Panormitis day – Symi sky
Photos of the sky today, taken from a house in the middle of the village on Sunday afternoon. While there, we also saw a buzzard flying overhead with alpine swifts and some black redtsarts, all too far away to get photos with my small camera. We also saw the buses heading up and down the hill, to and from Panormitis as the festival is well underway now.

I doubt I shall be going to any of the events this year, sorry, but my writing project is fully occupying my head and my time. But I have been offered a lift, so you never know, I may suddenly drop it all and head off for a couple of hours away from the desk. It’s one of those things that not many people understand, when you have a whole novel, musical, script or whatever in your head and can’t put it down. It does tend to make me uncommunicative at times, sorry about that too; I’m not ignoring you if I’m quiet, it’s just that there’s a whole world going on inside my imagination and it rather takes control. Still, if I don’t get to the festival this year I will see if I can borrow someone else’s photos and share a couple with you over the next few days.

I’ve attended the festival and various others held on the feast day (today) in the past. We’ve walked up to Kokimides above St George and stayed for lunch, we’ve walked to Roukouniotis and eaten there, joined in the celebrations, and we have also walked to Panormitis, as we did last year. If you enter ‘Panormitis’ into the Search Symi Dream search engine (over and own on the right) you will find several posts by me and others about the festival, such as this one https://symidream.com/still-walking-to-panormitis-4/ from our walk there last year.

Meanwhile, it’s back to the desk for me to get this MS done and dusted before my deadline.

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Symi Saturday photos
A brief post today (a whole day working on the book is planned and I am keen to get started). So, just a few photos for you today to show you views from up here on Friday and Saturday morning. Sunny one day, a little cloudy the next with a gentle fall of light rain this morning. Have a good weekend and, if you’re celebrating, watch out for those fireworks.

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Boats and cats
I was going to give you a breakdown of the boats to and from Rhodes – Symi – Panormitis for the forthcoming week, then I looked at the schedules and thought: there’s for too much there and you’re better off going straight to the websites and getting the latest accurate information, But suffice to say, there are lots of crossings to and from Rhodes, Symi, Panormitis, Kos and other islands coming up. Check out Dodecanese Seaways at http://12ne.gr where you can have the site in English.

Also check out the Blue Star line http://www.bluestarferries.gr/en and run a search under their Timetables – Reservations section (scroll down a little) and there you will see that there are boats on Friday and Wednesday, leaving Rhodes at 19.00 on 4^th, 16.01 on 7^th, 17.00 on 9^th and 19.00 on 11^th – lots of varying times there including the rather precise 16.01 – so double check. From Symi to Rhodes it looks like the routine will settle in to 5.00 a.m. on Wednesdays and 7.45 on Fridays, so that’s easier.

For more boat and travel info check out http://symivisitor-accommodation.com/blog/

As you can see, not much news to share and I can’t stay long. Michaelis from the pet shop just rang to say he is on his way shortly with the latest delivery of Jack-cat food; a whole box of the stuff which will probably last the Master only a few days the rate he’s been going. He’s bored, I reckon, and as he doesn’t/can’t go out (for fear of endless chases around the village with a cat box) he spends his mornings bothering me for repeat bowl excursions. The afternoon he spends on the sofa and the nights in the laundry, until around 4 a.m. when he does his business. I read that cats go a bit happy and loopy after a good… download, and run around. Jack doesn’t run very often so he celebrates his… achievement with a big yowl and a lot of shouting. He does this regularly at 4 a.m. I’ve noticed. He’s obviously up and bored then as he ‘goes off’ several more times until I finally give in around six and get up.

Anyway, that’s what I must go and deal with now; the aftermath of his four-a.m. triumph while waiting for his delivery. Everyone is quite right, this cat like many others, doesn’t have an owner, he has staff.

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Calmer day, quiet harbour
Yesterday was a much calmer day, the sea was flat, the clouds and wind had blown away and though it felt cold, it was warm in the sun. I headed down to Yialos in the morning with no jacket on; now there’s daring for you.

The light on Nimos always gets my attention as I sit at the desk looking out. There are two shots here today, one in the morning and the second one later in the day, during the afternoon when I was back at the desk working on the next novel. I didn’t realise until yesterday that the day before (I think it was) was World Author Day, or some such. It seems everything has a day these days.

That was just an aside; aside from what I don’t know as this is one of those afternoons when I have no idea what to write about. I guess I can tell you what I found in Yialos; peace and quiet. Lots of places are still open though the tourist shops have either closed or are closing. Some tavernas are staying open until after the Panormitis festival next week, after that more and more places will close down for the winter. I checked out the post office to find three important documents. The WGA registration certificate for the short script I wrote for my college course; Neil’s marriage certificate of years ago from Scotland; and his Irish passport application. We’re now waiting on two more documents and the translation of the affidavit from Rhodes and we should be able to complete the form and send it off not long after he gets back from Scotland in a week or so.

You may have heard that the Blue Star has changed its schedule slightly for the winter. The Friday sailing remains the same but on a Wednesday, it now comes in at 4.45 in the morning and departs at 5.00 – this is because it goes on to Karpathos after Rhodes (returning here from Rhodes at 17.00). A friend was on that sailing yesterday, which meant getting up at around three (not me) and arranging a taxi for 4.15; not a pleasant start to the day, not when you are then flying later in the afternoon. I woke up around five and heard the boat but didn’t go out to wave it off. It’s just something to bear in mind if you are planning a winter visit to the island, or a winter leaving, more to the point.

Right now the cat is again mithering me to go and do something. He’s been to his bowl about eight times today so it’s not that, I think he wants me to sit on the sofa for the rest of the afternoon and evening and watch Time Team, so he can fall asleep next to something warm. Sorry, mate, I have dinner to get ready and, while that’s cooking, another chapter to check over and edit. Later though, I’ll be watching something necessary on Netflix, perhaps Versailles or some other historical make-believe that plays out like a modern drama series. Ah well, have a pleasant day.

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Cold Tuesday
One word for Tuesday: cold. At least if felt cold, the thermometer read 17 but that was tucked out of the north-westerly wind that found its way into the house via the balcony doors (closed) and around my office window (closed). I shut the shutters and have put up the thermal curtains across the mousandra to keep the draft from up there out and any heat from below, in. I’ve also put up a temporary windbreak at the bottom of the office window, a towel with drawing pins to stop the draft blowing across my fingers as I’m working. All holding up fine for now.

I didn’t venture very far from home, though the rain had left and the sky was bright. I did go to the shop for a few supplies and the sun was warm, when you’re in it an out of the wind. The supermarket was its usual jovial experience with people in and out, jokes being cracked, the phone being ignored until the last ring and then long conversations happening as you’re half way through checking out, cheery greetings from all and sundry passing by. And then more on the way home, passing the taverna which, although its doors were shut, was grilling something very tasty, judging by the smell of it; perhaps cooking ahead for the evening. The square was quiet although there were two visitors there with walking poles and a healthy complexion apiece, settling in for a drink of some sort at Lefteris’ in the last remaining patch of sunlight. And this was all at midday.

That’s all there is for local village news today. A quick thank you to everyone who has recently written to say ‘thanks for the blog’ and who has sent best wishes for the winter months. I’ll be here as much as I can, filling you in on all the non-news from Symi as it happens, if it happens, if I see any of it, or learn about anything. The next big event is the Panormitis Festival which is held over the 7^th, 8^th, 9^th, November with services and festivals at other churches dedicated to Saint Michael(s) on the island. Not sure if or where I will be going yet, but if I do get to one of them, there will hopefully be pictures.

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