Quick news update from my Symi desk
Although it has been quieter than a normal July so far this year, when we called into Yialos on Tuesday I was pleased to see how busy it was. The large cruise ship from Cyprus was in as were the three day boats and many of the bars, cafes and tavernas were doing good business. Let’s hope we see more of this. The Blue Star came and went on Wednesday on a calm and slightly misty sea…

One of the things I picked up on Tuesday was my health insurance renewal. Now I am no longer in the Greek Ika system I choose to have private heath insurance as having none is not worth the risk. I’m pleased to say that after my checks and things earlier in the year the premium has not gone up by very much at all, I only wish that I’d done what I intended to do and saved a little each month as now I am scrambling around to find it – but I will, as they give you three weeks or a month to sort it out before you’re not covered. I’m nearly there.

We also picked up the phone bill which now, thanks to Cosmote and their office in Rhodes, is the cheapest it’s ever been, around €25.00 per month for 12 Mb broadband and phone line with, it appears, free calls included. Mind you, we hardly ever use the phone and these days I am more inclined to leave my mobile at home when I go out as well.

The weather has been hot, to say the least, and a little bit muggy, but great weather for beaches and boats, not that I see much of either, and the evening in the square have occasionally enjoyed a slight breeze. BTW, the Symi Shrimp Festival is on this Sunday in Horio Square, usually starts around 9pm.

And on the book front, I should have news for you on ‘Remotely’ very soon; we are just checking the print quality of the cover and waiting for one book to arrive before letting you know all about it. It is on Amazon now, if you want to take the risk (I submitted the cover but had no reply form Amazon about its quality which should mean it is fine and it looked fine on their on-line checking system where you can see if it all fits correctly – and it did). If you do, then simply do a search for ‘Remotely’ James Collins and you should see it. Once we’ve been through the print version we will work on the Kindle version and that could take a few more weeks to come through as there are formatting things that need to be done.

Remember, if you’ve read any of my books and liked them, the more reviews that go up on Amazon the better – for me! So don’t be shy, put up a few words and click the stars, giving your honest feedback and help others find books they might like to read. The best seller so far this month is ‘Lonely House’ which is a change from ‘Symi 85600’ as that’s usually my best seller, bless it. Anyway, that’s my news. Have fun and enjoy the pics, some of which were taken from up here to show a nicely busy harbour.

Symi Animal Welfare, Summer report July, 2016
Today we have an update from Symi Animal Welfare and some photos they have provided.

“On Symi the heatwave has been relentless since early June… and in these high temps the island cats prefer to find a shady place to sleep during the day, venturing out after the sun goes down, around 8.00pm to hunt for food in their habitual feeding places, hoping for some tasty scraps from kind tourists dining at the local tavernas, and the less fortunate cats are usually seen around the bins area in the port and the village. Although food is easier to find in the summer months, the cats’ appetite is often reduced by the heat, so many of them appear thin, but that is normal at this time of the year.

However, all cats need to drink, and we would like to remind all our friends & visitors that it is very easy to help the island cats by providing, in your area, a plastic container of water    for them, in a shady place, and you will see how they come to enjoy a refreshing drink, and give you a thankful look. Any plastic recipient will do, perhaps an empty ice cream or   margarine container? and one of the best is the (cut off) bottom part of a 10 litre water container, that makes a really good size bowl.

We would like to remind everyone that we will continue to promote and fund the feline neutering programme that we already have arranged with 2 vets in Rhodes. Any island resident who wants to take their cats over for neutering should first contact Suzan or Antonella at SAW. Finally, as we rely entirely on donations, we would like to thank all our supporters for their generous donations to SAW in 2016.

Best wishes & happy summer from the SAW Team,
Suzan, Antonella, Christina, Hazel & Tove.”

Symi Animal Welfare, website, donations and information.

All about Jacks
On a day when I can’t think of anything to write about, I turn to my bookshelf and pull down a copy of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable for inspiration. As the cat, Jack, is sitting at my feet I decide to look that name/word up and see what Dr Brewer has to say about it. There are 49 entries and then 19 other side references. Deciding not to bore you with every single one (you can, after all, go and buy your own copy of this invaluable tome), I have picked out a few choice entries that might interest you and interspersed them with equally random images from my ‘to post’ collection.

For example, did you know that a Jack Adams was a fool? I didn’t, and there was no other explanation, so, like a fool, I Googled it and what came up first? ‘Jack Adams Underwear and active wear for men’ and a host of images of semi-clad men the likes of which not even the Grattan catalogue could run to. It’s also an annual hockey league award apparently, but mainly it’s about underwear. Moving on.

Jack-a-dandy (a foppish, bright little fellow – there are a few of them around here) was followed by Jack-a-Lent. The explanation for this is ‘a kind of Aunt Sally thrown at lent.’ So if you have an aunt Sally you now know what to do with her in the run up to next Easter. Apparently there is a reference to this in act III of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Next came Jack among the maids a ladies’ man (quite a few of them around here as well), and Jack-in-a-bottle, a long-tailed titmouse so called because of the shape of its nest. (I am more interested in how a mouse became to be called a tit, but that’s another story). Moving on.

Ah ha! There are plenty of these around the world right now too, a Jack-in-office, a ‘pompous overbearing official who uses his powers unimaginatively’ is how Dr Brewer politely puts it. I just call it Farage and have done.

Here’s my favourite so far, a Jack-in-the-green: ‘A youth who moves about concealed in a wooden framework covered with leaves and boughs as part of the chimney-sweep’s revels on May Day.’ Conjures up all sorts of odd images, mainly ones of military cadets getting up to no good in camouflage gear up chimneys. You may be either saddened or pleased to note that this custom is now obsolete. Oh look, a Jack of Dover is some unidentified ‘eatable’ mentioned by Chaucer in The Cook’s Tale – probably a pie that has been cooked more than once, apparently. Well, if you will eat at motorway service stations…

A couple more: Jack-o’-the-clock, is the carved/painted human figure that, in some old public clocks, used to (or still does) come out to strike the hours on the bell. I didn’t know that. There’s one at Wells Cathedral I am told, where two quarter-jacks strike the quarter-hours and Jack Blandfier strikes the hours. And finally, a Jack out of office – one dismissed or no longer in office which happily brings me back to Farage, though he’s not quite gone yet, he’s still taking EU money for telling it that it’s rubbish. There are a few Jack words I’ve not used that I could use in order to describe that particular dunty, bruss, buffle-head – as they would have said in Kent some time ago. I’ll leave the translation up to you.

Pedi bay photos

The weekend was a bit of a productive one. Neil was working on his college course, and I was able to get ‘Remotely’; through the proofing process, almost, and now have it nearly ready to go live on Amazon. I just need to check the cover printing, which I should be able to do in the next few days. Watch this space. Meanwhile, I have also reached the end of the next book, ‘The Saddling’ in its first draft form. Just over 100,000 words that now need to be put in the right order and tidied up. But I will be leaving that alone for a while to let it ‘sink in’ before going back to draft two.

We also managed to have a very pleasant evening in Pedi, having dinner with lovely people (you know who you are), sitting on a balcony and watching the boats in the bay.

So, as my typing fingers are all but worn out, I think a few Pedi photos to welcome you to the week are in order, and I’ll leave the words for another time.

How many steps must a man walk up?
I finally found time to get out of the house and head to Yialos to do the usual bank and business, get cat food for HRH Alarm Cat, check the post office and dash back up again before the final on-line meeting with the editor where we finished off the last edits for ‘Remotely.’ This was after watching a flotilla (or regatta) of boats leaving after spending a night in the harbour. I assume it was a race of some kind as there looked to be some marshal boats alongside them. A very pleasing sight to see, over 30 over-nighters heading off for a good day’s sailing.

Now then, people often ask how many steps there are up to the village and my reply usually is, it depends on which way you go. There are various ways to do it. The most straightforward is to head up past the Kalodoukas office, turn left after browsing Freddie’s shop and saying hello to Pet Corner, and then Carry On Up The Kali Strata – a good opportunity for a plug for the second ‘living on Symi’ book in the series. This way will give you roughly 360 + steps to take, with gentle slopes to break the journey, and some nice views.

You can also head to the bus stop and resist the temptation to take a taxi or bus and then head up the slope that way. Here you can turn off half way up or continue to the top and the high school, up the slope and then join the Kali Strata on the viewpoint corner. Or, you can start on route one and turn off opposite the large red house, turning right and taking the almost sheer set of steps to the zigzag which brings you out near Lemonitisa and the domed church you see from the harbour. Turn left there to find the village square or zigzag up some more to find the Castro.

You can also just take any of the right turns and steps as you climb up and see where you end up. I took the slope that doubles back about half way up the steps, between the two properties used for The Symi Gallery and then weaved my way up to our house from there. It saves going all the way around but although it’s only four levels from that slope, it’s still pretty sheer, and very good for the thighs. Whichever way you go, remember water and wear a hat if it’s really hot as there isn’t always shade. You’ll find the off-the-beaten-steps routes interesting as you never know what you will come across; ruins, views, chickens, cats, more chickens and the cockerel that goes of around four every morning and keeps going until well after seven. It’s an interesting walk whichever way you do it.

As for the number of steps involved in these routes, my advice would be not to count. You can’t feel your legs after 50 of them anyway so it doesn’t matter. And as for my weekend, well, the usual is planned; writing and chilling out as I watch the boats come and go and set about setting up the things needed to get ‘Remotely’ published, hopefully in a week or so’s time. Whatever you are doing, have a great weekend and I’ll see you back here bright and early on Monday.