A kind of quick’n’lazy blog today. The photos were taken from home as the Blue Star came in on Friday morning. As you can see, there is a little cloud around.

And then, as I was watching the boat and having my morning coffee, I noticed something else in the water. Recently we’ve become much more aware of the sea out there and we’re always looking out for small craft, refugees in trouble, that kind of thing, though our coastguard are very vigilant and there is often a navy boat out in the bay anyway. But this morning, this caught my eye:

It was too far away to see what it was but at first I thought it was a fisherman’s marker, except it wasn’t in a very sensible place for that. Later on I noticed that it was slowly drifting towards the shore, but what was it? Anyway, while that was going on, I was also thinking about the next few weeks and being away, and I prepared a guest blog post. I’d originally set the first one up for next Wednesday, and then I’d filled in all the other gaps for while I am away, and then a last minute one popped in so I have put that in for next Tuesday, which is when the guest blogging will start. I now have something for every day from next Tuesday to the 12^th December, by which time I should be back.

But I thought I would think ahead in terms of weather as well as we have to go and arrange our boat tickets (and stock up on Jack Cat food for his agency care worker to deal with). Checking out one weather site I found that the forecast I had last seen had changed; no longer sunny with only one day of rain, it looks set to be a bit miserable when we are in Rhodes next week; maybe I won’t get to Ancient Kamiros after all, I don’t fancy a long walk in the rain. At least the wind looks to be fine for the boat on Monday afternoon and the temperature is not too low. And as for the weather in the places we are going to visit… Well, ‘Showers of rain and snow’ seem to sum it up along with temperatures of five and six degrees, showers and ‘an afternoon thunderstorm.’ I think we will be buying umbrellas when in Rhodes.

But before then… What was it? Ah ha! As it floated in towards the Nireus I was able to get a better photo and blow it up. Not sure where they came from but they seem to have travelled as a pair.

Symi Dream Calendar
Okay, early and advanced warning that I will be repeating this post in a few weeks as if by magic when I will be away. On the day I am planning to copy this post I should be back on Symi, actually, if all goes well. But still, there is one gap in my scheduled posts list and it’s December 12^th so this will still give you enough time to order and receive your Symi Dream Calendar for 2016. Here’s what you have to do:

Head to Neil’s page on Lulu and find his Symi Dream Calendar 2016. (Just click that link.) Then click ‘Add to basket.’ You will need to register for Lulu if you are not already registered. This is quick and isn’t hard to do. You can change the shop you are buying from by using the drop-down up at the top in the menu next to where you see your name (once registered and logged in). Buy from a country near you for a faster delivery. In Greece, I use the Irish site as it shows in Euros. You can change the number you order as you go through the purchase process and postage is then added on. You can pay by card or PayPal.

There, now you have no excuse not to order a little piece of Symi sunshine to brighten up your winter and every month through next year. The following photos are not from the calendar, but they are Neil’s and from Symi and a bit of a photo bonus for you – they will also reappear on Saturday 12th December (if all goes according to plan) which will probably be your last chance to order a Symi Calendar before THE day. Enjoy!

Symi Dream Calendar 2016.

Quick news roundup
Here’s some other news to catch up with. It was all happening in Yialos on the afternoon of November 16^th. First of all a chicken went shopping…

It’s one of those things that you see every now and then. You’re just walking along the backstreet towards the post office, passing the Xatzipetros supermarket when from behind the flower shop comes a small chicken. This is being followed at a polite distance by a curious young cat. The chicken crosses your path, you grab a quick photo and then it heads into the super market (sic) to, I assume, pick up a few essentials. The cat loses interest and wanders off somewhere else and you go to the post office.

Later you attend a meeting organised by Solidarity Symi, the refugee and island charity newly set up to help those in need. Attending are a group of interested observers plus the hosts, the island doctors, the head of the port police, people form the Rhodes charity ‘Helping Hands’ and members of the UN. A good two hour discussion with questions and some answers follows.

Later, having a glass at Pacho’s, you see a red flare being set off and wonder if that’s got anything to do with incoming refugees. It doesn’t, on closer inspection, seem so as the person holding it was on the quayside. The Dodecanese catamaran was leaving so maybe someone was saying goodbye in style. It did remind me though of a time in the summer when we were on the balcony and saw a flare, red, over by Nimos which did turn out to be a refugee boat in trouble. Red flares in the sunset.

And that’s my news for today, except to remind you that if you haven’t already put in your order for a Symi calendar or several, then now is the time to do so. You can find the order page here: Neil Gosling at Lulu. Or you could just ‘Google’ “Neil Gosling Lulu” and, surprisingly, you won’t find Neil singing ‘Shout’, but will find links to where you can order a copy, or several, of next year’s calendar. Well worth shouting about.

Symi to Rhodes, boats in November
Today’s blog post is a ramble around the boat timetable for November/December. As you know we’re heading off for a couple of weeks soon – and don’t worry, the house and Alarm Cat are being looked after – and so, as is usual around here, you have to check the boats to see when you’re going to go. Thing is, the flight is on a Friday morning and although there is a Blue Star ferry on a Friday morning it doesn’t get there early enough, so we have to go a few days earlier, in this case Monday, four days before our flight is due to leave. Why? Well…

Here’s the boat timetable from Symi to Rhodes for the week beginning 23^rd November:
Monday           17.45   Pride
Tuesday
Wednesday     08.15   Diagoras
Thursday
Friday              07.45   Diagoras
Saturday          17.25   Pride
Sunday            17.10   Pride

Not that we need to, but you can only come back on the same day if you go on the Diagoras. Now then, you say, what about going on Wednesday? Well, yes, that’s the obvious choice and what we were originally going to do. But the thing is, should something happen and that boat not go (and there have been delays due to strikes) then we are stuck until the Friday morning when the boat, even if on time, would not arrive until about half an hour before take-off. So, the only safe option is to go on the Monday. (When I booked the flights the timetable for boats was not available and I was relying on the Wednesday Blue Star, which is still the fall back option should anything happen to the Monday boat.)

So, a delightful four nights in Rhodes before we jet off to visit Neil’s brother and other interesting sights in Europe. What to do? Well, first off you have to find accommodation and though we usually stay at hotels, and would in this case if it were only for a couple of nights, we’ve found an apartment in the old town at a very good price (€25.00 a night for a one bed apartment including TV, heating and Wifi); I will no doubt do a review of it on Trip Advisor or elsewhere when I get back. So, what’s the Rhodian itinerary?

Well, ideas for what to do currently look like this: Monday night, staying around the Old Town and seeing what a night there is like in November.  We are hoping to visit Ancient Kamiros too. This is open every day except Mondays from 08.00 to 14.40 and costs €4.00 to enter. There are buses back and forth to a nearby village and then a three mile walk. Tuesday night? Not sure yet but Wednesday is curry night with our annual Symi Dream outing to Saffron. We were also thinking of a Jumbo visit (from the sublime to the ridiculous) but that will have to wait until our return; I’m not carrying plastic tat around Europe with me. There will also be lots of walking no doubt, and a certain amount of staying in and watching television or reading to save money as the extra two days and nights were not in the budget.

So, while all that’s going on, there will be guest blog posts and I’ve only a few more slots to fill out – and I may have to do that with adverts about my books and Neil’s Symi calendar which you might want to consider ordering now so as to avoid disappointment later. Links are on the right >> and more details will follow over the next few weeks.

It’s the end of the week and here are some Saturday Symi photos for you; again, these are from last weekend and our long walk and the Panormitis Festival. After this we shall move on to other things for next week, though there are still many images to share. There are a few posts about Panormitis coming in the future in the guest post slots while we are away, so watch out for them. We’re away to a baptism today and then I may go on a walk on Sunday so there could be a deluge of photos over the next week.

Other news? Well, there’s a meeting with Solidarity Symi on Monday at 2pm in the cultural centre in Yialos and everyone is welcome. There are lots of things up for discussion and not just the refugee situation on Symi, but also what the charity can do to help locals affected by the economic crisis. We are doing out little stint at the aid centre this morning, there have been refugees coming through Symi but not in the numbers we saw in August and not as many as on other islands. But keep your donations coming as any over-spill of donations will be sent on to where they are needed if not needed here.

More domestically; we have started readying the house for winter and on Symi this means: waterproofing where necessary – rain through windows, under doors etc., so shutters shut when it rains and some plastic sheeting up on the porch, also covering garden/courtyard furniture in plastic. We’ve filled in some gaps under doors and around windows where the cold north wind blasts in, so that should help. I am waiting for some thermal curtains to put up at the moussandra balcony so any heat we can generate in the sitting room is not lost to there and the oxeye at the back of the house. Neil’s been chopping the vine back and seeing to his and Louise’s plants that are sheltering in the courtyard. And we have dug out the electric blankets and spare blankets ready for when it gets really cold. It’s been fine of late though, hot in the sun and cool in the shade, average around 23 degrees. But we all know that cold and dark are on their way.

Anyway, enough rambling, I am going to leave you now with some more photos (in no particular order) and wish you a happy weekend.