Monday was another day

Well, that was something of a wet day – Monday, I mean. Today (Tuesday as I write), there was still some rain around first thing, but now, at eight in the morning, the skies are clearing overhead, but only slightly. The force nine winds have gone, and the sea is calm again. It’s also back to a more natural colour after turning red/brown as the topsoil was washed down from the mountains and out to sea. If you are on Fakebook, you will be able to look around the Symi groups and Symi Dream page and find some videos taken by people who live in Yialos and Pedi where the storm had the most effect. I have very few pictures as it was a case of staying in, shutters closed, towels down, mop at the ready and the internet on and off as thunder and lightning joined the melee going on outside.

For more details on the storm, which brought tragedy and destructions in other parts of the country, you’ll need to look at news channels, for us, it was a case of staying in, trying to keep us and the house dry, and hoping that nothing leaked too much. I was rained upon as I did the washing up because there’s a gap in the storeroom door above the kitchen and the wind must have been from the east, blowing the rain under the door and through the floorboards which are our kitchen ceiling and the storeroom’s floor. A quick dash up to the bathroom roof with a large towel to block the gap stopped the waterfall, though I was only out in it for two minutes and came back soaked through. A rough day all round.

Tuesday morning, the sea was calm, no white water breaking on Nimos (which I tried to capture through the camera before things got really bad, but in that light and at that distance, it’s not so good), and no rough waves attacking Tholos and the point as they were on Monday. While the internet was off, unable to write as the PC was unplugged, I turned my attention to another model kit in between checking windows and so on, so the kitchen table is once again some kind of art studio workbench, but this one will take a while as I need to order more paints. Meanwhile, I must get back to a book of some sort. We were going to Rhodes today, but after the destruction there on Monday, we decided to wait until next week as the visit isn’t urgent, but we still have to get to Yialos to collect the post. That will be done between tidying the house, waiting for a viewing by a potential buyer, possibly waiting for some minor repairs to be done (though I think the guys will have more on their plates today than a dripping water tank, so I am not expecting a visit), and playing the piano. Hey ho! Back to the routine…

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Blowing and glowing

It’s raining and blowing a gale outside as I write this on Monday morning. We’re expecting winds up to force 9 Beaufort later this morning, so today is not the day for going to Yialos to collect some post and withdraw some money. We’ll have to make do with what we have in the house as I’m not going out shopping either. I did see the Blue Star leaving at five this morning just as I was getting up, but I’d be surprised if it left Rhodes once it got there, and was fairly surprised to see it at all. We’ve taken our chilli plant inside to escape a battering, but the other plants are having to fend for themselves out there. Meanwhile, I finished the model kit I started in last week’s thunderstorm…

I last made one of these in the 70s when I was 11 or 12. Then, there was a series of Universal horror film models with parts that glowed in the dark. They were Aurora models and came in square boxes, and I made them at my school’s Wednesday afternoon modelling club (anything to get out of sports). I was also a member of the history club at one point, but nothing could beat spending all afternoon in a classroom putting together bits of plastic. I had all 13 of the series – I think it was 13 – and am always on the lookout for them now, so I can make them again. I don’t think my technique has improved much over the years, but this was the first time I’d done anything like this in over 44 years. It’s still possible to buy the originals, I have two, but depending on which figure they are, they can sell for hundreds of pounds, if in their original box, under cellophane and unopened.

Luckily, these models have been recast by Monogram and other manufacturers, and you can more cheaply buy remoulds of the originals, but again, they’re not that easy to come by as they were produced in the 90s. However, I’ve just found an Invisible Man-made by another company and on sale in the USA for around $30.00, so I have ordered myself one as a Christmas present. He wasn’t one of the original 13, but the kit is in the same style, a scenario with more than just the figure. Anyway, that’s something to look forward to when the wind isn’t blowing, but I’ll have to twiddle my thumbs until the kit arrives. Below, for anyone desperately interested, are a couple of (bad) shots of my cabinet. The Phantom of the Opera and the Mummy (hidden) are originals, I also have the remake of the Witch, Wolfman and Dracula which I am keeping in the boxes, though tempted to open the Witch as that has glow in the dark pieces. The plastic models I found at Hamleys years ago and are not related to the kits. But that’s enough of ‘things to do in winter on Symi.’ We’ll be back to normal rambling tomorrow when I must tell you about some bombonieres…

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Unplugged

Rain stopped play on Friday and yet also started it. Basically, the trip to Rhodes was off as we didn’t fancy being drenched all morning, the air was vibrating with thunder, and the weather was not good, to say the least. Didn’t fancy walking down a waterfall (Kali Strata) to wait for the boat in the rain, though there is a shelter at the new quay now. At the other end, it would have been a case of shopping in a downpour, and none of it was urgent, so we decided to stay at home and go this week instead, weather permitting. On the other hand, it’s amazing what you get done when you daren’t have your internet plugged in…

Okay, so no stories were written, but I was able to continue work on last year’s Christmas present, a figure model (Dracula). I had started this in early summer, but the paint started to dry in the pots because of the heat, and winter is a better time for such things anyway. So, I picked it up and carried on at the kitchen table for most of the morning and today, Sunday, it’s nearly done. I’ve not made one since I was 12 or something, and the results now are pretty much how they were then, but it keeps me off the streets and gives me something to do during bad weather.

The storm passed over during the day, and it’s been wet/dry ever since. A bigger storm and worse weather are scheduled for Monday when I need to call into Yialos to pick up a piano, as you do, but as I don’t drive, that may have to wait until things improve. Meanwhile, the bookshop is holding onto the large parcel for me, and I hope it doesn’t clog up their shop too much. Saturday was a better day weather-wise, and I was back online as it was safe to plug the computers back in. I was unable to unblock a block I had/have on a story I am working on. 60,000 words in, and I realised I’d tied myself in knots with too many clues and too deep a mystery, so it’s a case of starting again, hey ho! And it is to that adventure which I must now return before the next storm blows in and everything gets unplugged again.

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Village in Winter

Today, just a couple of shots of the village in winter mode. Quiet, cooling down, laid back, neighbourly, but still carrying on as usual. There are fewer people about, of course, but the churches, supermarkets and cafes continue to be the hubs of the village and places where people meet to catch up with news and share info. The village square continues to be the place for children to meet and play after school, and it’s safer now there are fewer mopeds driving through because there are no, or very few, tourists visiting. We have had a cruise ship call in once a week over the past couple of weeks. Apparently, it holds around 96 people, but we’ve watched it from the balcony and never seen anyone get off. I think they disembark, get straight onto coaches (out of our line of sight) and then head to Panormitis for the day, but that’s only a guess. So, generally, quiet and cool and dry, but bad weather is forecast for tomorrow when we are supposed to be going to Rhodes. Note: there may not be another post here for a couple of days, but if it looks like it’s going to be really wet, we’ll postpone our trip until the weekend after. Anyway, the photos of an empty village…

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Highs and Horrors

Yesterday was something of a mixed day with highs and horrors. A couple of weeks ago I found a good offer for a new smart TV, online at Kotsovolos. It’s a 39-inch screen one and was down in price to under €200.00, with free delivery, so I thought, I’ll have that. And now we have it. Exactly two weeks later, I had a phone call from ‘Michaelis delivery’ as he is known in my phone, saying that he was at Taverna Zoi, so I nipped down there, picked it up, carried it home (not heavy), and there we go. A new, big, TV that seems to be working fine – except I haven’t got the hang of the remote control yet, it switches to command the Roku we have plugged in, and then I can’t get it back to control the TV so I’ll be going back to the instruction book later to figure that out. That was one of the high points, as was dinner in the taverna in the evening.

The horror is coming up, and if you’re not a spider-fan, you better look away. We were in the square having a pre-dinner drink when some little chap came wandering past just behind us on the steps. I usually only see these things in May and October (at least, that’s what I tell myself every other month of the year) but it’s been so warm, I guess they are still out and about, working on building sites and doing whatever it is they do. After the shock of finding one in the bedroom the other morning, we had a visit from another last night. Neil posed with him to give you a rough idea of scale, and I think it’s safe to say, this is not the biggest one we’ve ever seen. It wandered off again later, and no harm came to it. I’ll just leave the image with you as I get on with my day.

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