Happy first of the month to you, kalo mina, and all that. May is being welcomed in with rain that started yesterday around midday, and is still going on. According to the Poseidon System, it’s going to be with us until this evening, so those plants I showed you are in for a good, long watering. Only two days ago I was in shorts and a t-shirt as I went for a walk up the hill. Today, I’m back in long trousers and a hoodie, and I don’t plan to go anywhere apart from 1893.

This was the view in the early afternoon. Maybe it doesn’t look so bad, and I’ve known harder rain, for sure, but this continuous, grey drizzle, now and then becoming heavier, ended up obscuring the hills, Nimos and the other side of the harbour. Ah well, it will help wash some of the dust away.

It will also give the balcony a good wash. I’m pleased I sealed the wood and painted the woodwork in time.

This month, I have a first to share with you. You might know I get involved in book promotions in a publicity-sharing, ‘indie authors band together’ kind of way. Well, for the first time, I have books by both my names in the same promo, they appear side by side. What’s nice about that is it’s me and my godfather side by side again, quite by coincidence:

In case you were wondering, I’m not Suman Jha, I’m the other two. This promo has a wide selection of all kinds of biographies, memories and other non-fiction books. There’s a fair amount of self-love and how to forgive kind of writing, but also, biographies of St Francis of Assisi, a guide for Americans moving to Europe, the start of a series about the history of Malvern and Worcestershire (the moving Americans’ first lesson will be how to pronounce the name of that county), and some of my jottings about Symi and other anecdotes.

If you want to help me gain some kudos points in the indie author promo world, then simply click the link or banner and take a browse around – no money is involved unless you decide to buy a book. That’s up to you. For me, it’s the simple clicks that count.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/mayisformemoirs/mwrcqy68ar

There we go. 101 things to do on a wet Thursday include promote a book, talk about the weather, cook a chilli con carne with your godson later and watch The Life of Pie all while staying dry. Welcome to May!

Not something I do often, spring in the courtyard, I’m usually passing through it, or putting out the washing – or bringing it in as we’ll have to do later if the predicted rain appears. What I was trying to do was introduce you to some of the spring events taking place in the pots. We have the red rose called Janine, because she gave it to us, and the orange one, so far unnamed, and the chili corner. The chilli plants are doing well, and coming back after a winter’s hibernation, and, hopefully, will soon be as successful as they were before. They all originate from the same chilli taken from the back of the Rainbow bar several years ago now. They seem to like partial shade and are in the southeast corner of the yard facing north. Over on the west wall, or, put another way, the outside of the bathroom, we have the straggly bougainvillea and an oleander, the latter arrived one day of its own volition.

In other courtyard news, the round ‘marble’ table did something odd the other day when it was being washed after the red rain; it fell in half. This proved it was not marble but some kind of composite, though the legs are definitely iron because they weigh a ton. This came from Pat & Ali’s bar when that closed back in… wherever that was, so it’s been around a while. It’s now acting as a demilune table against the wall. (I had to look that up, typing in “what’s a half a table against a wall called?” Now I see it written down, I can see it must come from French, ‘halfmoon’, simple!) That’s what’s happening in courtyard-land right now. Thrilling, eh?

The other day, there was some chatter on the wire about building work on the island and whether it would spoil a holiday. Fair question if you don’t know that place well or have heard a rumour and want confirmation. The thing is, there’s always some kind of work going on somewhere, so it’s hard to say anything except it is unlikely to spoil your stay. For example: The new treatment plant that’s being built on ‘Council Corner’ off the main road, above the ‘new’ port by the big bend, you know, on the way down the hill (as the area is locally known). Well, that’s unlikely to cause anyone any issues even though it’s probably the largest works currently taking place. Meanwhile, there’s another great big water-guzzling hotel and holiday development going on above the main road, not far from Haritomeni, on the road through Petini, and although the last time I saw it, the walls were up and the roof was on (I think), there may well be banging and crashing going on if you’re staying in the places nearby. If there is, it’ll only be from around seven until three, and such works doesn’t usually go on in the evenings until later in the summer.

We’re constantly getting dumper trucks trucking by our house and shaking the dust from the rafters, having concrete and sand dumped nearby, filling the house with dust, and the sounds of concrete mixers, hammering, and construction from somewhere up the lane, but we just get on with it because that’s island life. It’s not constant, but it happens. Someone might decide to start renovating a ruin a distance from where you’re staying, but the only access is past your front door, or beneath your holiday balcony, but what can you do? At least you know you’re not going to have a twenty-story hotel going up next door, not on Symi.

On Symi which is currently in a slight post-Easter, pre-summer lull, except there are day trippers and a few longer-stay visitors. The village square has been very quiet of an afternoon. The temperature was nudging 25 yesterday, and I am wearing shorts at 5.30 in the morning as I type, but you probably didn’t need to know that. On a final note about construction, when we came here in 1997, was passed a property that was being built near the main road, and it had a safety sign outside which read, ‘Caution, slow works in progress.’ I walked past it the other day and it’s still not finished.

Another week begins and follows a weekend that for me included taking a walk (wearing shorts for only the second time this year), spring cleaning parts of the house (though Neil did most of the hard work), being taken out to dinner, writing, of course, and enjoying some calm and warm weather. While working, I wanted to discover what the transcriptions from the Old Bailey would have looked like to my characters in 1893, so started hunting around. I assumed I’d see things like the censuses you can find on family research sites, and I was interested to see how they were set out, so I could be accurate in my descriptions. I very quickly found that they were typewritten and published, and thanks to the Old Baily online website, you can search them, or simply browse them out of interest, which is what I did. That kept me occupied for quite a while.

In the wider world, there was a wedding and a baptism over the weekend, so we had dynamite, fireworks and bells to help the celebrations. The visit by the team of doctors was very well attended and saved many people much inconvenience, time and money.

Here are a couple of photos. One is from yesterday morning and the other is from the same date and time but last year.

This week starts with a necessary trip to the shops to buy washing powder. How exciting is that? The highlight of the week promises to be Thursday when we’re going to watch the Life of Pi on National Theatre at Home, which I’ve subscribed to for the month. I’ve already watched Amadeus, but after the piano lesson on Thursday, we, Harry and hopefully Jenine will gather for tea, then sit down to watch the production. I am particularly keen because my best friend from my teenage years wrote the music. I’ve listened to it on Spotify but not heard it in situ yet, so I am very much looking forward to that. And off into the week we go…

It seems strange that people who have been here for a break are already leaving, but that’s the way it goes when Easters collide. A rise in visitors for a week, and then a lull until the more usually holiday months: May/June for the northern Europeans, July/August for those from the south, September/October for those who don’t like it too hot, and it’s back to winter.

Yesterday, I watched a TV program about people on a cruise visiting Santorini. What was good about this episode, I thought, was that it showed how things really are. A pair of passengers who wanted to reach the main town had to wait in a queue with no shade for a long time, because the cable car can only do 1,000 people per hour, and there can be upwards of 10,000 visitors a day on the island. (Shudders at the thought.) Other downsides were shown, like the crowded streets, the long walk up if you don’t want to wait, and so on.

This doesn’t compare, but it made me laugh. I was putting the laundry away when I heard youthful antics taking place on the lane. I looked out to see a group of teen lads wandering along, tops off, trousers around their knees in the current fashion, ogling the view, being lads and a little rowdy, until the woman who was sitting panting just out of sight got her legs back after the climb up, and appeared. Trousers up, butts away, best behaviour as mum and dad arrived, and off they went, their little moment of bravado put away for another day.

On another note, there’s this parish announcement:

Three days of medical specialists starting today, to be found at the clinic, I believe. Appointments are needed, but you can easily translate this with an app. Mind you, if you live here, you a) can read the language, or b) probably already know about this. It happens a few times per year: private or state funded, I’m not sure, but ‘Doctors of the Aegean’ specialists come to the smaller islands for free consultations and treatments. How good is that?

Anyway, have a good weekend. For me, my view will be mainly the computer screen and, beside it, this…