Just offering my weekend report as demanded, Ma’am. What can I tell you…?

Highlights? A visit to Panorama, the kantina on the road out of the village. We arranged to meet up with Jenine for supper, and enjoyed a very juicy beef burger, a great view and a good old chat as we’d not managed to get together for some time. We’ll be doing it all again tomorrow at Harry’s birthday lunch, though down in Yialos, which reminds me, I must wrap the presents. That’s a thing about being on Symi; wrapping paper is hard to come by. I have ordered some, but it’s not arrived in time, so, as he’s my music pupil, I dug out an ancient book of organ music I am never going to play again, and will use some of that as wrapping paper. Last Christmas, again in the absence of anything decent to use (because we’d run out of Jumbo’s finest), we ended up bunging some gifts in Temu delivery bags. Caused hilarity.

So, the kantina (Cantina? Café?) was lovely and is highly recommended. It’s not too far to walk up to. We went up through the village, past the museum and out onto the road and up, but you can also just follow the main road if you don’t want to do more steps.

Another semi-highlight was finishing draft one of the next book, and I say semi, because I still have a couple of pages to put in at the end to round it off, so that’s today’s job.

Sleep was an odd one. Following a mosquito attack, I was forced to take a ‘non-drowsy’ antihistamine tablet, one of the very mildest in the medicine drawer. These things usually lay me out for a night and a day at least, but not that night. Four hours sleep and I was awake with my nose so blocked and my mouth so dry I just couldn’t get back to dreamland. So I got up, pottered about, went to work, had a light siesta around eleven in the morning, but otherwise, no side effects from the tablet, and I carried on carrying on. Saturday night, however, I slept for eight hours solid, but on Sunday… Crikey! I’d slept well but had to have an hour’s doze in the morning followed by another hour after lunch, and was ‘out of it’ for most of the afternoon. Delayed side effects of a non-drowsy tablet. Still, at least I wasn’t itching.

Another weekend folly was trying to identify a plant that turned up in a pot and is growing like mad. Whatever it is, we didn’t plant it. It may well be a weed, but I don’t mind them as long as they have flowers at some point. I ran images of this one through various ‘identify this plant’ apps, and they came up with it being either a rare herb only found by moonlight on the lower slopes of the Himalayan mountain range, or something to do with capsicums. The leaves don’t taste of anything, and there are no buds or flowers yet. Maybe the mystery will be solved one day if and when it does something other than demand water.

Now, I really must get back to the final chapter and decide how this story is going to end…

Ps. Another thing I did on Saturday was put up a tour around my desk on my Jackson Marsh blog – click here to take a look.

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Some views along the lane today taken a couple of mornings ago as I wandered lonely as a cloud. Well, not lonely, as I had the chickens, birds and cats for company, then a little further on, the chicks at the bins with more mother hens fussing around them.

There’s not a huge amount to report as this week ends. The festival at Alithini was well attended last night, with hundreds of souvlakia served after the ceremony, lots of dancing, and lots of attendees. The concerts in the town square continue, I’m told, both modern and classic music being served. We were at the kafeneion yesterday where there was some impromptu bouzouki playing and singing taking place, and a general party/holiday atmosphere pervades.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, I have my usual weekend planned, chapter twenty-something to chapter twenty-something-and-one, as I near the end of a first draft. There’s housework to do, always shopping to get in, and I have to do battle again with FilmOnTV because they charged me for a month’s subscription completely out of the blue, and their email support system is totally rubbish. So, I am going to completely delete my account and block them from taking anything further from my card. I think I can do that with my card… Anyway, that’s admin for the weekend and not at all exciting. I’ll leave you with a view…

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Three early morning balcony shots today. The Blue Star on Wednesday morning when it came in at 5.30, then, the cruise ship a little later, and this morning as the younger set were making their way home at around six, following a night of happiness, following a concert in the town square. Tonight is the celebration of Panagia, so there will be more revelry after the religious side of things is taken care of, and then the heat of August will continue along with the festival events.

The temperature remains high, being 28° and 55% humidity at 5.50 this morning, and 37° at four yesterday afternoon – we’re bouncing between those two at the moment, at least, we are in our courtyard. The day boats continue to pour visitors into the harbour, with a few breaking off from the herd to find their way to the village, and the taxis were taken up with cruise passengers yesterday. So, summer life goes on through this, probably the busiest month of the year for the island, or the one that feels the busiest because it’s either the hottest, or feels like the hottest because it’s been hot since late May and we’re in August now, and… someone have a word.

But the mornings are a little cooler, and there’s some cloud out there today which will probably burn away by the time I set pen to paper and knuckle down to chapter 21 or whatever it is on the slate today. That and very little else, I think. Neil is out later for his swim and stuff, looks like the Rainbow will be closed as Yiannis has to be in Rhodes today, so Neil will have the afternoon off (unless the boss gets back in time), and I plan to enjoy a day at home, once I’ve been shopping, resting my tennis elbow, writing my books and watching Time Team on YouTube. There’s also a book to read, housework to do, and probably some weeding in the courtyard when it’s cooler. I may or may not do all or any of those things. We shall see.

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It’s only 6.20 and I’ve already picked up three mosquito bites. It’s a humid morning again, and we’re heading for yet another hot day by the feel of things. We’ve been in the high 30s for how long now? Seems like forever. Fine if you’re here for a couple of weeks’ holiday, but every day and night for three months… It gets a bit wearing without the usual wind and with more humidity than in previous years. The way we’re burning up the planet, it’s not going to get any better, so may as well get used to it. Some rain would be nice though if someone could arrange it. Perhaps once a week overnight, just to keep the plants happy and the dust down. Someone have a word, will you?

Still, at least I’m not outside working on rooves or building sites, standing in a shop all day, or worse, in a kitchen. Mind you, Noufris at the taverna says he’s quite comfortable and his kitchen is the coolest place, because he has so many fans on him, I guess. I have one on me here at the desk. It’s beneath the open window which doesn’t let in much cooling air, only mosquitoes, it seems (four now), as I set myself up for a morning working on the next book.

Talking of books… If you’re after a thriller or a mystery read, here’s a list of over 100 titles – you might find something there. This is one of those promos I do to promote my work. It costs nothing to browse, but each click on the banner/link below gets me a point and allows me to participate in more promos, which means I get more free publicity. It’s a scheme that works for everyone involved and, as I said, costs nothing unless you actually go and buy a book, or read one in your Kindle Unlimited.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/mysthrillsus-aug/6yfa21rq1b

That’s enough shameless publicity for the moment. I am off to find the anti-bite cream, and set up the typo-writer ready for the next chapter in my dark tale of stolen children, Grand Guignol, London sewers, and whatever else ‘A Case of Make Believe’ is all about.

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Two unusual things occurred this morning. One, I woke to discover I had slept for eight hours solid for the first time in ages, and two, when I went to the sitting room, the first thing I heard was a car or building alarm. That’s a very odd thing to hear around here, and I only usually hear such a thing after a power cut, and that’s rare too.

Then, and this isn’t so strange, I heard a sheep nearby. Maybe that’s a little odd because we’re on the north side of the village, not that rural and it’s not coming up to Easter, which is when we usually find sheep and goats wandering the lanes.

The other morning sounds continue as normal. The cockerels who ‘go off’ all day and night, the chickens panicking because someone laid an egg, and their chicks chirping up the road. The blackbird clicking its tongue like an admonishing schoolteacher as it does a fly-past warning, and the sparrows having a good old gossip. The collared doves are more circumspect on the telegraph pole, doing their coo-coo, coo, ad infinitum, with their partners replying, ‘You just said that.’

Boats coming and going. There’s what looks like a small cruise ship coming through the humidity haze right out in the bay, and some smaller pleasure craft upping anchor and heading off to some other paradise.

And so the morning begins. It’s going to be another hot one, but not as hot as north of Athens where the land is burning. (I can’t believe I was woken by fireworks the other night. Fireworks?! At this time of year, and directly over the harbour, property, and scrubland. Madness, and I thought they were outlawed at the moment anyway.)

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