Rain and Racing

This morning I was woken up by the sound of the roof overflow gushing outside the bedroom window which we’d left open last night as it was so warm. There was no water coming in, as there was no wind to blow it, but I closed it anyway, just in case, and then set about my morning routine: cup of tea, look at the news, head to the desk. It’s still raining, and it’s set to go on all day which is good news for sternas and plants alike, and luckily, Neil painted the flat roof the other day, so the bathroom has remained rain-free. I found some photos from last March to illustrate, slightly, what Symi looks like in bad weather. Not great photos, but something, and actually, the weather wasn’t that bad then, but you’ll get the picture.

The rest of my day is planned according to the usual routine. The morning spent writing, occasionally pausing for any necessities like breakfast and shopping (unlikely today), a break for lunch and then back to the desk, though some afternoons recently that’s been hard to do and its been more than tempting to tune into something else like a good book or the television where we’ve found a way to watch a US game show.

No, it’s not called ‘The Peachy Trump Impeachment Show’ (I read about that during my news catch-up in the mornings), but one called ‘The Amazing Race’ that’s been running for years. We can only find a few series, but it’s a show right up my street. Pairs of contestants travel the world to perform challenges and races based on local customs, traditions or sights and get knocked out one by one until only three remain for the final leg, by which time they’re travelled around 24,000 miles in three weeks and submitted to all kinds of things. Not things like you see on mind-numbing game shows in a studio, but things like jumping off a tall building (in safety harness) to retrieve a clue, a zip-line over a gorge, bungee jump, swim with sharks, or, in calmer moments, learn a flamenco routine and perform it. We’ve seen a couple of episodes in Greece where they had to be on duty with the Ebzones in uniform (something of an honour) and do something lethal at the Corinth Canal. Anyway, that’s my excuse for only writing one chapter a day at the moment not two, and now it’s back to the rain.

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Day to Day

It was two years ago today that the island woke up to storm damage, the emergency services arriving on the island and the military being called to assist. For us, we woke up to a power cut, which is nothing that unusual, and a puddle of water in the middle of the sitting room floor with no visible signs of how it got there. We were lucky. Other homes were flooded, some by mud and debris, parts of a few others were missing, and some people were blocked in by shifted rocks and mud. Luckily, there were no fatalities, though we did lose an infants’ school, and there were many businesses who had equipment and fittings wiped out.

Fortunately, today, there is no such devastation, and the ‘Noddy train’ is parked up by the clocktower and not in the pizzeria as part of it was two years ago.

There is bad weather heading this way, but as usual, the north of the country is due to take the brunt of it while we are expecting some showers, clouds and wind. I was still able to be outside for my early morning cup of tea and having closed the shutters against the wind last night, I can open them this morning without fear of them being ripped off. As far as I can see, it’s going to be a typical kind of day, though warmer than usual for this time of year. We have, all being well, someone coming to look at our latest water leaks, and a friend coming for the evening. In the meantime, we will be working around the home, as usual, doing some shopping and taking advantage of the warm-ish wind and getting up to date on some washing. Oh. It’s so glamorous around this house.

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A drip or two

I’m afraid it’s balcony shots again today, nighttime ones this time, or rather, early morning ones. If I put up images of ‘what I did yesterday’ then all you’d see is my computer screen and keyboard, of, and a bucket. Yes, the never-ending saga of the water system has reared its head again, this time with a dripping WC cistern and now, the leak on the main water tank has returned. I’ll put a call into Symi Property Services later, if they are around at the moment, and see what can be done. Neither leak is bad, just annoying, but they have the potential to get worse, and they won’t get any better on their own. That aside…

Still enjoying warm days, no wind, no rain to speak of, not like two years ago (tomorrow) when we had that horrendous storm which washed away paths and steps, rocks and parts of some houses. Let’s hope we don’t see anything like that again and that the new water channelling system being put in at various points above the village do their job the next time we have heavy rain.

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Still not quite winter

I know some parts of Northern Europe are already experiencing snow, but here, we’re still hovering around 20 degrees by day. I’m still having my morning cup of tea on the balcony before sun up, the weather’s calm and there hasn’t been any rain for a while now. If you want to know what the village square looks like at this time of year, then today’s photos were taken on Saturday late afternoon when we popped down to the kafenion for an hour or two.

As you will see, Rainbow is now closed for a couple of weeks as Yiannis is away on family business. When he’s back, we’ll probably be in there on a weekend evening watching the TV and hanging out, just to take a break from doing the same at home. That is, when not beavering away on winter projects – mainly, a couple of stories to write. We’ve started preparing for the winter though, with a duvet now aired and in use, the curtains are ready to go up (those are the ones that divide the open-plan house in an attempt to keep out the cold wind), and the wardrobes have been swapped.

I don’t know if everyone does it, but for us, we keep winter clothes packed away during the summer and summer clothes packed away during the winter as we don’t have room for everything in the wardrobe. I mean, I barely have room for my one pair of trousers and two hoodies, what with all the top hats, waistcoats and other paraphernalia the Mr keeps in there, but we manage. Other things also happen for the winter. For example, we open the bedroom window every morning to try and keep back the damp, ditto the bathroom window which doesn’t actually shut anyway, and there’s a stack of old towels ready to use for draft excluder or for mopping up if the rain comes in under the door. Neil has painted the flat bathroom roof with the special paint to stop the leaks coming through, and I’ve remembered where I put my thick socks. So, we’re ready for the cold weather while currently enjoying the last of the autumn warmth.

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Having a long weekend off. Back on Monday.

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