Please do not turn off Symi Dream, we are updating: 5%
A few photos today, taken while wandering around the village on my way to Taxiarchis Apartments. As you can see, a lovely sunny day. I carried a hoodie with me all day and all evening but didn’t need it at all. It was one of those feast days, lunch at the Olive Tree, dinner at Trata…

I would be writing more today, I was up early enough but someone up there in the cloud decided my laptop needed an update: ‘Please don’t turn off your computer, this could take some time, Windows will restart…’ Two hours later… The only thing that I can see is different is that they’ve unhelpfully changed the main menu to icons (simple enough to work out but… why?) and now all my programme icons on my task bar occasionally flash on and off as something sweeps through them. Firefox is taking longer than usual to do its stuff and… well, everything else looks the same.

So, that was a wonderful waste of two hours, hanging around and coming back every ten minutes to see if I had progressed from 5% updated. Actually it wasn’t a waste of time as it gave me an excuse to read some more of a friend’s short stories that are going for publication later this year. In a word, delicious (all revolving around a certain, small Greek island). I’ll tell you more when I am able to and when the book is published.

Meanwhile: Friday morning, the washing is on, we’re heading into Yialos later this morning for the post office (I think my ‘FitBit’ has arrived), a look at the shops and then lunch. There are no plans yet for this afternoon and evening so it could be a night in at home. That’ll be novel.

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One in one out
As you can see, a bit of boat activity yesterday. The cruise ships are still coming in, summer isn’t over just yet! We had one in on Wednesday night for three hours and then this one in on Thursday. It was still parked up as the Panagia wanted to come in, so the ferry had to hang about to at sea for a while until the Sea Dreams boat moved.

As you can also see it’s a lovely day and the temperatures are still in the 20s; we’re still in shorts (as long as it’s not a cool breezy evening) and people are still heading to beaches. Mother arrived Safely on Wednesday night, perfectly delivered by Olympic Holidays and shown into Taxiarchis where she has a very nice studio with a good view and all mod cons. We popped out to Mandeio’s for a light supper after the arrival and I’m heading back down there soon as we’re going to the welcome meeting (it’s Thursday as I write). After that… well who knows? I feel like I’m on holiday myself.

Here’s the culprit for the white dust all over the washing and courtyard, a tamarisk tree that’s shedding its whatever – I have a bit of a sore nose from it, but it’s only temporary.

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Symi coincidence
Another quick post today. And they may be shorter for the next few weeks, there may even be days off. Eek! Mother will arrive this evening and so I won’t have as much time during the days to jot down my usual rambles and news. But I shall do my best.

What’s nice to note today is that I’ve had a couple of message sin from people who are here on Symi and reading my books. People are getting a lot of laughs out of Jason and the Sargonuats, Remotely and even Carry On Up The Kali Strata, which I was talking about the other day. That title is still ahead in my monthly charts but only by one point as ‘Remotely’ is catching up fast.

Met a strange coincidence last night, sitting at the Rainbow and chatting to some very nice people who we’d not chatted to before. They were from Deal, in Kent. So? Well, I am from Romney and sitting beside me was Jenni from Hythe – all cinque ports, all in a row along the south coast and all in a row outside the bar here on Symi. One of those things eh? Nice chat though and we made it home just in time for the 5.2 magnitude earthquake that happened just off Rhodes and not too far away. The house creaked, but it stayed upright I am pleased to say. Not had one of them for a while and it’s nice to know the house is so stable; built on rocks, so should be fine.

Right, off to get the shopping now ahead of the state visit. Bear with me If I’m not here so much over the next few weeks.

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Symi Photos
Dashing around getting ready for the family visit… still lots of tidying up to do some of which will have to wait for tomorrow… some shopping to get in… phone bill to pay (just paid in, on-line banking with Alpha Bank is so easy) and then to find something to wear that works with the cooler air, the sun and warmth when not in the shade, and which also looks good. So much to do so little time.

And so, some random photos today and not a lot of words, this will give me time to get the lunch ready, put the cushions back on the sofa, clear up the cat litter, hang more washing out, sweep the floors ready for a washing later and… You get the picture. Here are some more pictures; Symi photos to brighten your day.

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Carrying on up the Kali Strata
I was doing my usual thing that I do towards the end of the month and seeing what was my best selling title of the month. I can do this through Create Space for the print novels and books, and through Amazon Kindle’s set-up for the Kindle versions. I was kind of expecting ‘Remotely’ to be at the top as it’s a new book, and that was indeed the case – aparenty a local newspaper in the Kent area picked up on the fact it was set in that area and ran a piece about it; thank you! Everything helps.

Interestingly, although ‘Remotely‘ did well in paperback, the winner of the month (so far) is ‘Carry On Up The Kali Strata’ – usually ‘Symi 85600’ is the best seller on that list, and I just wondered if perhaps someone had found ‘Carry on’ and spread the word around for me. It’s only a short book but it comes with photos from Neil and some true tales, plus some stories so it’s a bit of a mix. Nice to see the old thing getting pole position for a change.

Of course, all of these titles and more are available via my Amazon Author’s Page which you can find there and it would be every so lovely of you if you could find a moment and a way to share this link around; go to the link and they copy and paste to emails, like on Facebook, tweet on Twitter, do whether you do on Instagram (I don’t understand it) or ‘Hooked-Ap’ or whatever the others are called, and spread the word. Thank you.

Back in news which has nothing to do with me, Symi was a little cloudy yesterday, and definitely felt colder. I wonder if we are in for a cold winter this year? Mind you, it’s warm enough in the sun when it’s there and it’s calm. The day boats were in, packed again which is good to see; let’s hope the people on them are spending a little or a lot in the harbour – few make it to the village in the limited time they have but some more intrepid explores get up here.

I’ve got the washing machine on again (oh, we’re back to me, ah well) and have taken in more water to the sterna as there’s a pile of end of summer washing to be done and the winter things to start to organise; the curtains and covers, things that keep out the drafts. I’m still halfway through washing the sofa covers and notice that the white pollen/seed thing is back. We had this at this time past year; there’s some kind of nearby tree that drops white seeds everywhere turning the courtyard into a snow drift and it’s all over the washing. It shakes off and makes Neil sneeze, so the next couple of weeks are going to be fun with endless courtyard sweeping and sneezing. The cat will probably get lost in it, camouflaged.

Anyway, ramble enough. Here’s that link again, please share my Author page and the links to whichever is your favourite title. The page is also on Amazon UK but I can never find it. You should be able to search for all the books in your own country (though they are all written in English) and your own local Amazon store. Thank you!

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