Building, decorating etc.

Some harbour shots today. As you can see, there is work going on, on the streets and on buildings. There is always something going on somewhere, rebuilding, starting anew, repairing or renovating. The winter, when it’s dry, is a good time to get on with it. It’s not as hot, but there is less daylight. In the height of summer, builders tend to work shifts, starting early in the morning, breaking off at the hottest part of the day and returning in the evening. Winter time seems to be more nine to five, or seven to six more like.

You can also see that the sea was calm. There wasn’t a breath of wind, and the sea was like glass. Good sailing weather if you’re going about without sails, and the boats have been running as normal recently after the bad weather and storms of January (December, November and some of February). It’s good to have some respite from the elements.

If you were following our own ‘renovations’ and the office-to-study transformation, you will be interested to know that the woodwork has now been done in the workhouse, both of us have our new furniture (almost) and carpets, and my new velvet curtain is up at my window. I will get a photo at a later date as I am waiting for my chair to be made and delivered, and that may not be here until May so you will have to wait. We’ve also had the bedroom done, and it’s now has a warm colour and looks 100% better. If you’re on Symi and want a local decorator who works expertly, quietly, conscientiously and well, let me know, and I’ll put you in touch (it’s Kevin, for those who know him). He even fixed a leak on a pipe, a light fitting that didn’t work and put up the curtain rail after we made a mess of it, so that was a bonus.

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Kali Strata thought

I just had a look at a couple of photos I took yesterday on my way to Yialos and back and realised that three of them are rather stone dominated. That made me ask, how many individual stones are there on the Kali Strata do you suppose? I have heard many people say that Symi isn’t the best place for a children’s holiday – as we’re not your typical seaside, all-inclusive, waterpark type holiday destination, and people say there’s nothing for children to do. Well, that’s wrong for a start. Apart from everything that’s on offer here (beaches, sea, walking, boat hire, the sea-sports, boat trips, day trips, walks, modern playgrounds, safe streets, impromptu football games in the square – everyone welcome to join in, the festivals, music, shops and more), there’s a game you can employ to keep your children entertained. Give them the task of counting the stones in the steps of the Kali Strata. That should keep them busy for several days.

Seriously though (as most of the above was), when you stop to think that just about every street and path on the island is made of stone. Most of it comes from the island itself, and not to mention every house, drystone wall and so on, there must be millions of individual rocks/stones in use, and they didn’t get there themselves. The Kali Strata was mainly built in the 19^th, and early 20^th century, I’m told, which means an awful lot of people found, dug out, cut, carried, laid and grouted every single one of them over time, and the work is still going on.

So, with that early morning thought, I’ll keep rocking, post this and get back to my daily routine which is mainly made up of sneezing, blowing my nose (still), and keeping warm. It’s back to that time when it’s sometimes warmer outside than it is inside the house – when you’re in the sun at least. Beautiful weather but still not quite enough sun to warm the stones of the house so they hold the warmth inside. But we’re getting there.

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I’m staying here

“Delighted that the Greek Government has confirmed that in the event of no deal the rights of UK nationals already living in Greece will be fully recognised and guaranteed…”

That’s from an article in Ekathimerini, and the quote is from the British ambassador to Athens. There has been a lot of speculation on various forums and lots of people scrambling to get paperwork up to date which has led to all kinds of assumptions and panic – not necessarily on Symi, but in the wider picture. The fact still remains that no-one really knows what’s going on and that, of course, is thanks to the shambolic mess the yUK government has made of everything over the past few years, but this piece of news is good to read. It does go on to say, “…will be fully recognised and guaranteed, in line with the reciprocity offered by the UK to EU citizens,” so that could mean anything. The yUK could change its mind, seeing how it seems to be descending into right-wing hell, and that could leave us here abroad in a different boat. I doubt it, but one of the great achievements of the Brexit movement has been to undermine stability (you know, business, economy, youth future, countrymen abroad, trade, blah-di-blah), so it wouldn’t surprise me if the YukGov somehow cut us off completely. After all, already, if you’re a British immigrant abroad, you can’t go back and immediately find assistance from your homeland; you’ve done the dirty by exercise your right to not live there for a while so you’re made to suffer.

Whether it all comes to pass or not, us immigrants already living here can just Carry On Regardless, that’s exactly what I am going to do. Thanks to all this uncertainty I’m going sit back and watch the yUK fall into a mire of its own making – or not – and enjoy the spectacle from over here.

Anyway, I didn’t get up at 3.00 this morning just to ramble about Brexit, but I couldn’t think of anything else, except to show you photos of yesterday’s view. The sea, obviously, and then the new view from the end of our balcony. Now the allergy-tree has gone, and the ruin is being cleared, we have a new vista, at least until the ruin is renovated.

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Weather I will or not

You never know, I may venture out of the house today. I think this cold is finally on the way out, that’s a personal cold not cold weather, you understand. I was half-asleep all day Sunday, a quarter asleep on Monday and today, though it’s early, I might only be one-eighth down, and the rest feels a bit more lively. I need to get to the bank at some point over the next two days so today could be the day, and it will be the first in over a week. But I’m not counting my sleeping dogs before they’ve hatched, and other mixed metaphors. I’ll see how I feel later when the sun’s up and see what the weather looks like. Yesterday it looked like this…

I’ve been typing away while I’ve been in my confinement, some days more successfully than others, but I have written the first drafts of two parts of a series; 190,000 words in total since Christmas. I’m nearly at the end of the first read-through of it and then will attend to the editing stage. I also need to find titles before I can move on and finish them, but something will come to me. I’d like to write the fourth Saddling book this year and complete that series, but other ideas have stepped in the way, and the Saddling books are more of a summer project. It feels easier to write them then for some reason.

Anyway, enough waffling, it’s time to get on and see what’s in the email box before getting down to some work, maybe going for a longer distance walk than just to the supermarket and whether I will go out in this weather, whatever it turns out to be. Oh, and yes, I misspelt the word in the post title on purpose. Why? ‘Cos it’s half-five in the morning, and I can write what I want.

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Signs of spring at home

There are signs of spring out there, and some are starting to appear in our sparse collection of plants in the courtyard. The chilli is still deciding what it’s going to do, the one I call Heavy (plant) Crossing has a few shoots and the new bougainvillaea will hopefully start to put on weight soon. There’s one of those big locust things hanging around somewhere eating the succulent that has red flowers, and I’ll catch it and evict it as soon as I can. The plant doing the best so far is that pretty weed with the yellow flowers that grows at the base of the vine.

The hills are already starting to look green again thanks to all the rain we’ve been having. The sea is calm, there’s no wind, and we may be in for some settled weather for a while… He says. Last week Neil went and put in his paperwork for his residency card. We’ve had these since 2002, but he’s changed his to put it under his Irish passport, rather than his yUK one, just in case, and he should be able to collect that later this week and then re-register to vote at the town hall. We’ve still not heard what Greece intends to do about British immigrants if the yUK doesn’t get its deal, does get its deal or sees sense at the 11^th hour, and I reckon they are waiting to see what happens, as are several other European countries. Lots of folk are confused and concerned as the British government (for want of a better word) seems to be more disturbed about preventing the rights of foreign immigrants to the yUK than securing the rights of its own people living in Europe, so it’s hard to predict what the situation might be in a few weeks. I reckon those here and registered, living in Greece with an income, health insurance and all the correct paperwork will be fine, but the point is, no-one knows yet, and it’s a very worrying time for many. The next few weeks may bring more news, until then, I’m just carrying on as normal.

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