Here’s October

It’s Sunday morning, early, and the sun is just about to rise behind some heavy clouds. It’s reasonably clear overhead here on Symi, but along the horizon, over Turkey, it’s a different story – cloud and lightning. Things may change as various forecasts are still saying we’ll get the edge of storm Zorba, but, so far, there’s not been much sign of it.

There was an interesting light over Yialos last night as we headed down for dinner – thank you C&R, we had a great time, even managed to get a taxi up to the village afterwards.

I’d been for a walk in the afternoon, my fourth this week. I am aiming for five a week, of three miles each, half of which should be uphill, and I may yet go for a stroll later today. I’ve got into that thing of walking while listening to music. It’s not on too loud so I can still hear cars approaching, but it does make the uphill climbs more bearable, somehow. I try to switch off from the aching legs, which ache less with each walk, and before you know it, you’re at the top because the music gives you something else to think about. I should be thinking about books and what comes next because…

I finished ‘The Eastling’ over the weekend and later today am sending it to the proofreader who has it in her diary for an 11^th October start, if not before. Meanwhile, my cover designer, Adjela in Serbia, is working on a couple of minor changes to the cover and I need to finalise the back blurb so she can add it. Never an easy thing to do: write a 97,000-word novel and then condense that into three or four sentences that sum up the story without giving anything away, makes the book sound interesting, communicates the atmosphere and makes the blurb reader want to buy the book. Needless to say, I am still working on it, and that’s what I should be getting on with now.

So, here’s wishing you a happy month ahead, and here’s hoping this storm stays away from us.

04.30 and no sign of Zorba, the storm that’s meant to be heading this way. While we wait for it to either get here or not, here is a varied collection of Symi photos from the archive.

Photos

Good morning! Just a few photos today. You can see that the sky over Symi yesterday was a little cloudy, but as yet – 6.00 Friday – there’s no sign of the storm that everyone has been talking about, but it’s still too dark to see the sky properly. Maybe it’ll blow in later.

Folklore Museum

I was back out on the road again yesterday for a quick walk up to the monastery overlooking the Pedi valley. From the village square to the main road, up the zigzags and to the turnoff at Ag. Marina, then out along the concrete road, uphill all the way. Back along the same route, except cutting off at Lavinia and walking down through the village rather than by the road. My phone app tells me that was 3.5 miles. The photos tell us that it was warm and sunny, the wind had dropped, and it was a very pleasant afternoon.

I passed by the folklore museum on the way down and took a photo of its opening hours. Apparently, not all of it is open due to lack of staff but what is viewable (the upper part, sadly not the Scala) is free to view. Do go along. I was there two years ago as work was still going on and the curator was about to close the doors for a private tour. We were invited along too, so four of us were given a tour of the whole site, including the rooms that were still being renovated and the Scala (the mansion house), gardens and courtyard. Stunning – or it will be when it’s all finished, if it isn’t already, and when we can get to see everything.

I was out and about for a short wander yesterday and took a few photos, some of which are here today. Waking up this morning, I was surprised to see the cruise ship already in the harbour, it doesn’t usually come in until later. The air is definitely cooler, there’s something of a breeze, and bad weather is forecast for a couple of days’ time. Some forecasts still say Monday, others say Thursday or Friday, but unless the storm front blows itself out, something is definitely heading this way soon. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as some reports are suggesting, but either way, it looks like it will only be around for a couple of days.

Meanwhile, it was bustling in the village square last night. At one point every table was occupied at both bars. We know quite a few people who are leaving today, and many were out enjoying their last holiday night on Symi before heading home. I’m starting to get that end of season feeling already, and there are still several weeks to go before what I call the real end of the season, the last Wednesday of October.

But that’s for the future. Here’s a photo I promised to share with a couple of our Symi Dreamers…