Out and about on Saturday on Symi, doing things… There were 10 or 12 refugees brought in on Saturday, though while we were at the old post office they were at the port police, but the quiet time gave us, and several other volunteers, time to tidy up and sort out. A large consignment of clothes and donations had come in from several places and people around the world and needed sorting and placing. Some was going to storage in Pedi, while the rest needed to be checked through and organised. Meanwhile, in the background, the Solidarity Symi fundraising campaign reached its latest target of £30,000 which is great news.

I also read this post from the Solidarity Symi team: “One of the refugees who arrived today has advanced MS. When I asked if we could do anything to help, he replied ‘We feel safe. That’s all that matters.’ The quiet dignity of these unexpected guests is profoundly moving.” ‪#‎solidaritysymi

While we were doing our little bit, I found out that I had been in bed with two ladies that very morning and knew nothing about it until they alerted me to the fact. Two of the Saturday volunteers, here on holiday, had been reading this very blog, in bed, that very morning; well, you never know where you’re going to be popping up do you? Later in the morning my mum came to see what we were up to and immediately got stuck in with some cleaning (I’m back in the refugee station now, not still in bed with the ‘Beedle dee, dee dee dee…’ two ladies).

We also met another ‘Beedle dee, dee dee dee…’ two ladies and ended up having drinks and dinner with them later – you meet such interesting people on Symi, including, as it turns out, another writer and blogger. I’m looking forward to sharing more info with you about all this is due course. After our time at the aid station we wandered around the harbour and had what’s become a tradition now, a Saturday lunch. This time we went to see Jordana at To Spitiko and had souvlaki. We took a cab up afterwards so that Neil could get to work on time.

Saturday afternoon rolled on into evening and into Zoi’s where mother treated us all to dinner before we headed back to the village square for some live music. It was rather the ‘battle of the bands’ as Georgio’s was also playing live music and we were at the Rainbow Bar, caught in the middle (with you) as the song says. Sunday morning, I watched the soldiers down in Yialos doing their regular Sunday morning parade, saluting the flag at the war memorial and a-singing of the national anthem (much abridged – the original poem on which it is based has 158 stanzas, usually only the first one or two are sung or in the case of our boys chanted as though they were on their way to Old Trafford.)

Then I watched another cruise ship call in, smoke a-belching, and then… Well, actually, that’s exactly where I am now. The Alarm Cat is at my feet telling me it’s time for his second breakfast so I shall have to go and attend to that. It’s this thing he has about not wanting to eat alone. I suggested, the other day, that we should get a second cat to keep him company in his old age, but the trouble with that is, you end up with two cats and, after this one, we don’t want another, so the idea didn’t go down too well.

And NO, we do not want any cats donated, thank you. This one is turning into a dog already. It’s a bit comical to watch: I get up, let him in, feed him, go to the bathroom and when I come out, he’s there, looking up. We go to the bowl and he carries on eating. I go to the balcony and he trots out and lies down. I go back inside, he gets up and follows, then sits at my feet under the desk, but I’m not stopping there, I’m back to the kitchen to make coffee and he’s with me, flops onto the floor, ‘Are we done yet?’ and then, when I head back to the desk, he follows, this time telling me to settle down! And so it goes on. It’s the only exercise he gets.

Anyway, enough! I’m off to see to Sir-the-cat’s needs and then do some Sunday morning house jobs, like yesterday’s washing up. Here’s wishing you a good week ahead.

PS: If the ‘Beedle dee, dee dee dee…’ confused you, you really need to watch more Liza Minelli films.

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Sea photos and a day trip to Symi

Saturday photos, and today they are all the same view, more or less. The weather has calmed down and got over itself, the cruise ship has been in, the Diagoras has been running, the other boats too, there are lots of yachts about, a whole flotilla has been around and the sea has been calm. So, I’ll leave you with these images and wish you a good weekend.

And here is a video from You Tube showing a day trip to Symi (Yialos and Panormitis as the boat doesn;t stop in Horio) with a feature on Takis and his amazing leather artwork in the middle.

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Here are my Symi thoughts for today.

The weather is still the talk of the town at the moment, what with devastation in Skopolos, Bodrum being flooded and Rhodes getting an extra day of storms on Wednesday. It was still a bit cloudy on Symi yesterday, with more rain forecast on Thursday but at least it’s not as stiflingly hot as it has been recently, and the wind is not high, so the boats are not affected.

While we’re rabbiting on this morning I thought I’d put up some of Neil’s photo taken the other day in Yialos. More ‘portraits’ of folk on holiday and working in the harbour. The season is still going on, and doesn’t end here for a few weeks yet; usually around mid to late October. Mind you, we do have sailing boats coming in through and into November when we also have lots of visiting Greeks and others, for the festival at Panormitis on 7^th – 9^th November.

This doesn’t mean that all the shops stay open though. Some do, and just about everything in the village stays open. What closes for the winter? Well, a couple of tavernas and one or two shops, but that’s it. The cafes up here are all open, the Olive Tree has a couple of quiet months off in the early New Year, but the others, with more indoor seating, are open. Down in the harbour a few more places close, to the extent that there are only a couple, like To Spitiko and Aris open. Many of the bars are still going but again the ones with outside seating (mainly) tend to be shut. But that’s all a long way off yet.

As I’m writing this I am watching the Panagia Skiedani coming in, and it looks pretty full. Neil told me that when he was in Rhodes on Wednesday, getting soaked, there were hardly any taxis to be had, thanks to all the cruise ships that were in. We had one in on Wednesday too, in the evening. It’s fun on a Wednesday as the Panagia leaves at the same time the Diagoras is due in and that’s due to leave as the cruise ship arrives, while all the gullets (two Ls –note!) are trying to get a berth as well. Our mooring men do a great job down there at these times. Well, at all times.

I’ve been looking at the timetables because my nephew is due to arrive in under two weeks and I ned to figure out the best boats to get, and cross-reference that with the weather to make sure I am on the island with the airport at the right time. The Panagia is doing fewer runs soon, but still should allow me to head over on a Tuesday, to meet a Wednesday flight, if it looks like the Wednesday morning boat might be late or cancelled due to weather (too early to say yet), and the Pride is conveniently coming over on a Thursday morning so we can get back… You have to start planning these things in advance, checking the weather, organise the tickets early to make sure you have a seat, then I need to book the hotel for a night or two… The fun of island living; very suitable for frustrated travel agents like me.

There you go, that’s a ramble for you, something to read over your morning coffee. Let’s hope this cloudy stuff passes over quickly and we can get back to complaining about the heat soon. Mind you, it’s never that hot at this time of year, I am now considering a duvet back on the bed and having to work with a shirt on.

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Wednesday: A morning at home, clearing up after the rain. Only having to clear up outside is a nice experience, the inside of the house was perfectly dry.

Rhodes airport woke up to find an eight meter long hole in its taxi-way yesterday morning. Apparently there had been a repair made there before but the storm has caused the problem to open up again. Flights were, naturally, suspended and then, when things started up again, delayed. A bit of a shame for some people who left the island a day early (due to the storm) to ensure that they were in time for their flights. They then also discovered that not only did both boats leave Symi on Wednesday morning but they were both on time – but better safe than missing flights. The Diagoras was only about 15 minutes late, which constitutes ‘on time’ around here. And, apparently, it was still raining in Rhodes though Symi was mainly fine – cooler and a bit of cloud.

I spent the morning at my desk –hence the photos from the window – and was in touch with the film production studio about what was once called ‘the Judas Curse’ and which is now called ‘the Thirteenth’ and which is based on ‘The Judas Inheritance’ which you can find here  if you have not already got a copy. The latest news is that they are still trying to iron out a couple of edits, but it’s taking a while because the editor is working for free; but hopefully he’ll be able to get the things done this week. Then they’ve got to add the music, and then the colour grading and then the sound (maybe not in that order) and then the credits, so four more stages to go through before they have a finished thing ready to sell to distributors. There should be a Kickstarter update soon I am told, but that’s all the news I know for now.

Something else I woke up to yesterday was an interesting story I found via Facebook. Thing is, it was on one of those sites that has so many up-sell adverts you have to wait ages for the page to load, and then when you try and scroll, it seizes up your browser because there are so many ads. And all, I may add (ha ha) for things I’ve already got. I know we have a couple of adverts on this site, the Booking.com thing and one at the bottom of posts, but hopefully they don’t jam things up too badly. Not much point over-advertising if no one can actually view your site. I also woke up to the continuing cold, but found some cold and flu tablets I’d bought for a refugee guy (who then vanished) so I was able to take a couple of them myself.

And on the refugee topic – looking out of our window I can’t see anyone waiting around the police station, but that doesn’t mean we have not had any refugees landing here of late. Also, the Blue Star Diagoras came through so may have taken people to Rhodes. We are due back to volunteer on Saturday so will get an update then, but the charity has nearly reached its £30k target and, as of Wednesday, only needed £2,524.56 to break through its latest target.

Solidarity Symi Facebook Page

Solidarity Symi donate page

Other than that, and getting caught in the rain on Tuesday evening, a few times, and getting stuck in the bar for a while on the way home due to Kali Strata flooding, and then having a mainly sleepless night due to cold and ear noise… all is well with the Symi world.

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Weather watch service here – writing to you on Tuesday, so those heading out to Symi today might already have left and this is a bit behind, but there you go. Yes, we got some of the storm as promised, or at least we have so far. Rain on Monday night and a downpour on Tuesday, with heavy clouds and some wind getting up – that’s as of 11.30 yesterday morning.

I’m in the habit of writing a day behind, or rather a day in front and then having the post go live the next day, as you know, but the thing about the weather is that we get some kind of weather here all the time and what you see when you look out of your window is what you get. There’s nothing that can be done about it, so what can you do? Well, I can post some photos to show those who’ve not seen it before what the weather can be like on Symi through the year. And yesterday it was more like October/November, but that happens.

Anyway, enough of the weather, what else has been going on? Well, not a lot really – got a bad sore throat, first illness in many a month, possibly even a year or so, but it’s nothing that can’t be ignored so that’s okay. The plants have had a good watering, but no rain came into the house, apart from a little under a window but that was fine when I shut the shutters. And I’m back to the weather again.

Okay, how about this video instead. I found this via Solidarity Symi, the refugee (and local needy) charity that’s been set up, and I’ll include it down at the bottom so you can see the full thing. It’s about the refugee crisis. Please feel free to share this with anyone you know who says, ‘We’re full up,’ or ‘Not my problem,’ or anyone who fears an Islamic takeover of Europe, a breakdown in social infrastructure and so on. It explains everything and in a very clear way. Give it a watch and stay informed.

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