Courtyard action post-winter

Today we have a quick tour around the estate, as we are about to prepare it for the summer. The estate being our rented house, you understand and ‘prepare it for the summer’ means painting the bedroom, and throwing away the old outside table that has a broken leg and that is listing like the Titanic at 12.30 a.m. on April 15^th, 1912. We will also get around to painting the courtyard one day before too long.

Outside, the chilli plant is coming on nicely and has survived the winter, unlike a few other things. Something got eaten by a locust that came to live with us for a couple of months, and something else looks a bit done in but should recover as it’s already starting to grow back. The vine has started to sprout, and I am hoping the new courtyard fairly lights arrive before it takes over, as they are intended to go above the vine and shine down through the leaves. The lavender has woken up, and there are some pretty yellow weeds doing something in a planter in the corner. Neil’s frangipani (not an Italian dish) looks like it’s given up the ghost and doesn’t look well at all. The rose isn’t even thinking about doing anything, and there are several other pots that once contained ‘things’ that seem now to be dead. The bushy thing that was a gift is doing okay, though. As you can see, I’m not very good with plants.

We have a new light up in the kitchen so we can dispense with the anglepoise that has been lighting us, slightly, since the old light fitting blew up. Only taken two months to get that done. The shutters are now more open than closed, except when it’s windy, and the sterna is now full of rainwater after the storm a few days ago. Most winter clothes have been put away, and the summer ones brought out and tried on. Last year’s shorts still fit me, in fact, a couple of pairs are too big. Would love to know how that’s happened.

Our landlord is back from his extended leave and seems to be well. He’s already back to his usual routine of being up early and pottering around with useful bits of building, adding a bit here and there to his house over the lane. Good to see him back and back to his usual self. Outside in the big wide yonder (the village square), we sat chatting to a few visitors and what you might call ‘stayers’ who are here to check on their houses and have a holiday. So, it’s starting to feel like winter is coming to an end and, before we know it, everyone will be saying ‘It’s hot, isn’t it?’ as they do as soon as the sun comes back. Looking forward to that.

And that’s all I can think of today. My head is into another idea for a book, the details of which I might bore you about another day. We are still heading downhill to ‘The Saddling’ publication date, ‘The Judas Inheritance’ has its new cover as you know (and another five-star review on Amazon), I have ‘Symi, Stuff & Nonsense’ in draft one form to consider when the weather is better and ‘Saddling’ is out there. Neil has just phoned me, there’s a frappe in the offing at Rainbow, so I’m off out now. Back tomorrow.

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Preparing for a party

A quick visit to Yialos on Saturday confirmed that the summer season is poised on the edge of ‘ready to go.’ Almost.

Tables and chairs are being made ready, bars and tavernas tidied up, dusted down, cleaned again (they are usually cleaned up at the end of one season and again at the start of the next, even though they have not been used). New parking restrictions are already fighting valiantly with parkers on the front, deliveries are being made and painting is being seen to. There was a long line of cars heading over to Rhodes on Friday on the Blue Star. I guess people are shopping for supplies, seeing to the endless paperwork, settling bills, debating others, seeing officials over in Rhodes to make sure all licenses are in order, that kind of thing. I wonder what new processes there will be for those who work in cafés and restaurants this year. The usual health checks that include chest X-rays and blood tests (and others I shan’t go into), health and safety exams, books to be signed and photos to be provided for new workers. Some of the tests and exams last for several years — or used to — and there are papers to complete for those on IKA and other insurances. It’s a busy time of the year.

There were at least two tourists on Saturday. I know they were tourists because they were wearing the uniform, backpacks, shorts and t-shirts. There were other Saturday visitors from Rhodes too, and it was good to see that Meraklis was open, in its usual place. The rumours of it moving or closing were unfounded then. It’s all starting to ‘kick off’, as they say.

The same goes for the village where, although there may be news about some places not opening this year, others are preparing for Summer. Georgio’s has been redecorated inside; all the photos were off the walls, and the walls have been painted. The outside has been stripped and re-rendered and undercoated. Lefteris’ kafeneion has been painted and has some extra netting up in the square to help stop the footballs from coming over, providing the children with a decent goal to aim at. Taverna Zoi was being painted and tidied ready for opening at some point, a forklift was in use to bring supplies to Sotiris’ supermarket, and the new pie shop and bakery has been open next door all winter.

There is a feeling of hopefulness in the air. Yiannis Rainbow is away next Friday but, as there are now visitors here and some day-trippers, he has asked Neil to start work on Friday and man the bar all day. We sat there on our way back up on Saturday and chatted to two American tourists who had come over for the day; the start of the usual afternoon conversations. The weather is warming up, but we have had some rain and a thunderstorm, and I have seen electricians and plumbers, decorators and so on preparing properties.

So, it looks like Symi is almost ready to welcome arrivals and visitors, day trippers and those with properties who come for longer periods of time. The party is just about ready, and all we need now is you.

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Symi Saturday photos

And a couple of bits of news. First of all, I have a new blog post on my author’s blog. If you are interested in cover design and how to get one done without paying a small fortune, that’s what this post is all about. Here’s the link. Book Covers: Worth The Money

Please don’t forget to like and share and all that jazz, if you do like it and want to share it.

Secondly, the post shows off the new cover for ‘The Judas Inheritance’ as promised. I’m going to upload this new cover over the weekend and so any future copies of the book should, no will, come with this new cover. Take a look at the blog to see it, and the full back cover too.

That’s the news from me, here are the photos from Symi to give you something to look at with your Saturday morning coffee. Kalo mina and have a good weekend.

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This leads to that

It’s always fun to see how things link up on Symi and how quickly the best-laid plans can get out of hand.

On Wednesday, Neil went to help a friend chop back another friend’s over-zealous bougainvillaea while first friend’s wife came to me to sing a bit. This led to an after sing/chop beer in the square. We went to Lefteris’ as Rainbow was closed in the afternoon. One beer was ok, but then it started to rain, and so there was no way we could leave and walk the fifty yards home in a drizzle, so we stayed for another one. And then another one as everyone was having such a good time. It stopped raining and, by this time, Rainbow was open, and we thought we should pop in for one to say hello. That soon led to another one as returning homeowners appeared, having come across on the Blue Star, or earlier. By the time we made it home, a ‘quick beer’ at the square had turned into a few more than that, and I had, for some reason, got ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ stuck in my head as a thing to watch. We suffered that (no more beer) before bed and still managed a fairly early night. To be fair, we watched the 25^th-anniversary version from the Albert Hall, infinitely better than the film version as it’s the whole thing staged as best as it can be out of its theatre.

Luckily for the healthiness of at least two of us concerned, we had taken a long-ish walk in the late morning, and that’s what today’s photos are from. I was interrupted in my ramblings yesterday by Neil’s idea to go for a ramble, and so we decided to walk up to the cantina on the main road. This is the place we use to walk to every other morning a couple of years ago. After a few months of doing this (and also walking to Pedi or up to ‘To Vrisi’ on the hillside) we were at the stage of being able to run up there after walking fast up the steps past the museum to the road. Wednesday’s walk was also pretty fast, but there was no running involved, and I was pleased that I managed it with no trouble. I was also interested to measure the distance on my FitBit, which told me it was about 3,000 of my steps and roughly 1.2 miles each way.

With my new/old camera, I was able to zoom in a long way and down to the new jetty at Pedi which, as you can see, looks to be in use, at least in part.

With Easter less than two weeks away, it’s good to see return visitors heading back to Symi. We met a couple of couples the other evening, and there are more on their way. It won’t be long now before Neil is back at work at the Rainbow Bar in the afternoons, three to five as usual, and the usual summer activities start up. It will be a while yet before the taxi boats and beaches are up and running, but we all know how soon time flies.

And, in my news, I’ve finalised the new cover of The Judas Inheritance, and it will be up there soon. It’s looking good. More news to follow.

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Symi Harbour in March

A few shots of Symi harbour today: The Herb & Spice corner being done up, the side of the bridge where the old kiosk no longer is, looks bigger in that area now, and some shots of the buildings by the sea. As you can see, it’s still quiet here, the direct flights from the UK and other places have not started to come to Rhodes yet, but we have had visitors over for the day.

I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things following our trip to Rhodes. I have a to-do list which includes a new post for my writing blog, reading the proofs of several chapters of The Saddling, finalising the new cover for The Judas Inheritance and setting about writing a few more travel articles for a site or two. On the subject of The Judas Inheritance, if you don’t have a copy with the original cover (that features a Symi ruin) then grab one now. In a few days, the new cover will be out, and the old one will no longer be available through Amazon. Perhaps the originals will become collector’s items one day. yeah, right.

The story is exactly the same, in fact, the interior will be exactly the same, but the cover will look like a completely different thing. It’s much more professional and well designed (because I didn’t do it) and it’s being done by the same people who have done the cover for The Saddling – which should be out next month or, more likely, early in May.

While I am getting on with all of that, the sun has come back, though so has the chilled breeze and the air is colder than it was a few weeks ago. The sea is calm though, and it’s not been windy. And that’s good news because Neil has just come back from his aerobics class all keen and eager to go for a walk up the hill. I have to play the piano at 1.30, and we need to have lunch first… But there’s plenty of time… Okay, just let me finish this… You can finish it later… I’ve run out of excuses, so I’m off for a short walk. I may be some time.

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