A few random photos to end the week, starting with one taken just now as the Friday Blue Star was coming in. The weather’s calmer today, after some wind and cloud yesterday, and apparently, it’s set to get colder again, having been warm for a while. Still dry though and there are already BBQ bans and fire warnings in effect in parts of the country.
As you’ll see, there’s a mix of images here, in that some were taken in the summer last year, and some towards the end of the year when the ground was dry and the hillsides brown. A contrast to what we have now, as there is still grass and greenery to be seen
I’m pleased to say I have nothing at all planned for the weekend apart from editing and old book and preparing it for a re-release. Whatever you’re up to this weekend, have a good one, and I’ll be back on Monday.
News of the day? Not much, really. Last night, I made a cottage pie, as opposed to a shepherd’s pie because of the kind of meat involved. It’s interesting how a cottage pie is made with beef and in gay polari* a ‘cottage’ is a public toilet. Ponder that for a second. I don’t think shepherd has any meaning in polari, but a ‘looker’ might, and down on Romney Marsh, they call their shepherds, ‘lookers’, as they do in my mysteries set on the marsh, the Saddling series. (Any excuse for a plug, eh?) I have no idea where this thought is coming from, too much onion gravy, I imagine (which took over an hour to make, by the way). Here’s a photograph.
Clearly, nothing to do with cottage or polari, but possibly of relevance to lookers.
Today, I shall be sending the final draft of ‘Acts of Faith’ to my proofreader ahead of deadline, and will then return to the reading I was doing yesterday, which also had nothing to do with polari, but everything to do with the Police Illustrated News of 1893, a fascinating read if you’re into all things crime related from the late 19th century, and a lot easier to read than the hundreds of other publications in the National Newspaper Archive that I spend more and more time in each day when looking for the next story, or details to use in the current one.
If the mood grabs me, I may take myself out for a wander later, I’ll see what I feel like doing. One thing I know for sure, is that we have a heap of cottage pie left over, so lunch is taken care of.
Symi in spring
* Polari (noun) a form of slang incorporating Italianate words, rhyming slang, and Romani, used originally as a kind of secret language in England by people in theatres, fairgrounds, markets, etc. and adopted by some gay people in the 20th century.
The spring cleaning has begun – at home, I mean. The idea is to thoroughly do one or two rooms each week, starting, this week, with what we call the laundry room. We have a wardrobe in there, and the original idea was, we stored the winter clothes in it in the summer and the summer clothes in it in the winter. So, yesterday, we emptied from it suits that hadn’t been worn since 2004, a hundred shirts that ‘Might fit one day,’ 50 towels, a rug, four winter coats worth keeping, George’s bedding (for when my nephew comes to stay), two pillows, five old photographs, a painting of the Nautical Museum by Gill Bennett (if anyone wants to buy it, let me know), two paint trays, and five ground sheets. It’s a big wardrobe.
Then, there was what was on top of it; loads of boxes that ‘Might be useful one day.’ Actually, they were very useful to package up the 101 old glasses we never use, some old crockery, and various other things that might break in the bins and become a danger to the stray cats. Then, there came the other cupboards, the things on shelves, the shelves themselves, three buckets, several broom handles that I ‘Might do something with one day’ and other paraphernalia of no use to mouse or man.
It was a lovely day for emptying, cleaning, throwing out and replacing, and this morning as I passed through on my commute to work, I looked at the room and felt slimmer. Next to be emptied, cleaned and restocked, I reckon, will be the spare bathroom where the WC doesn’t work, and where, if we use the shower, we have to empty the water tank before the water runs hot, so we use the room to store other people’s suitcases. We shan’t be throwing them away, but we will give them a brush to get the winter dust off. After that, it’s open season on the rest of the house, when we feel in the mood, while out in the wider world, as mentioned yesterday, people are preparing their houses for Easter. We are also preparing ourselves for our annual MOT health checks next week, and I’m keen to tell you about our excellent experience with a private imaging clinic in Rhodes, but more about that another time, because now, I want to stand in the laundry room and listen to the echo.
As usual, I had a good idea of what to write about, last night, but have now completely forgotten what that was. I could tell you about my dream where I lost my cello on a flight from somewhere to somewhere else, but that’s not very exciting. What’s more entertaining is that, when leaving the house yesterday afternoon, we were met by Michaelis coming to read the electricity meter. What was fun about that was that I’d only just seen him on TV a day before, running in the Athens half marathon. He got back here and back to work pretty fast, but then, he is a marathon runner.
We are still walking in a spring wonderland.
People are starting to tidy up their houses and businesses getting ready for Easter, and after that, the summer season. The outside of our house looks like a dodgy work of art, but it’s not up to us or our limited bank account to redecorate it. We take care of the inside which, to date, has involved two or three repaints inside, including the courtyard, balcony and ironwork, a new bathroom ceiling, a hot water tank and about four water pumps, plus general day-to-day stuff like renewing the traps under the sinks and having various bits and pieces repaired as anyone must do.
Right, the sun’s up and so am I, though I’m still looking for that missing cello… I must get on. I’ll try to remember to write down my brilliant ideas for tomorrow you have something more interesting to read with your morning coffee.
I’d say spring is springing, or has sprung, or is about to spring a surprise, because I took a quick walk yesterday through greenery, as you’ll see from the photos. That was on Sunday morning after I finished the almost last draft of my next mystery, ‘Acts of Faith,’ which Neil is now reading, and which must go to the proofreader next weekend. That means, beside me is a blank page in a notebook, to which I hope, soon, to start adding notes for the next one. I’ll let you know how things go, or course, but if you want to know what these mysteries are, the current series starts here.
Not there, which was at the top of the Pedi valley yesterday. I’m guessing the harbour cafés were busy yesterday, because there was a football match. Sam reports that the café where he works is always busy on a weekend and will continue to be so as the weather improves. He’ll not be there for much longer, though, as I believe he starts his summer job next month, which sounds early, but then, the island will busy up as Easter approaches. For my piano student, the next few months brings the end of school (for ever), a grade four piano exam, the summer job and then college, so, like spring, there are a lot of new things coming up.
On my way back from my walk yesterday I passed the museum and found four young tourists sitting on the bench politely waiting for something to happen. One stopped me and asked if this was the museum, and I said, yes, it was. It was closed with a sign saying, ‘Back in five minutes,’ which I suspect is permanent at this time of year. I banged on the door because I gained the impression the lads were too polite to do so, but to no avail. There was a phone number to call so I suggested they tried that. I hope they did, because they had obviously made such an effort to get across from Rhodes for the day, climb the steps, and find the place, and I hope someone came out to show them around, as I believe, the museum is supposed to be open on a Sunday.
Anyway, for me, it’s nose to the grindstone as always, or fingers to the keys. Finish this book, start the next, begin on the spring cleaning bit by bit, carry on carrying on, and look forward to seeing old friends while meeting new in the summer months.
