Today is Greek Independence Day, and a celebration of the start of the war of independence, 1821. It’s a bank holiday, and there will be services and celebrations because it is also the Feast of the Annunciation. Last night, Yialos and the road to Evangelismos were lined with flaming torches as part of those celebrations, and you can see great footage of this if you look at Symi TV, either on Facebook (link here) or on YouTube (link here).

This morning we woke up to cloudy skies and some light rain, but yesterday was a glorious day. I took myself off for a walk around the top of the Pedi Valley to admire the greenery and flowers, blossom and new leaves and had a lovely, quiet walk.

This was partly to recover from the fun and madness of Saturday night when our godsons came for dinner. Just us four, a curry Neil had cooked (I made the bread), and some homemade ice cream, lovely chats about all kinds of things, and a very naughty game of Cards Against Humanity. That raised even more laughs and some eyebrows. Since then, our oldest GB has secured himself his first long-term rental down in Harani, which will be close to his work at Pavone Café, which is just behind the police station. He is due to start his season at the beginning of May, while the other GB will start back at the Kali Strata Restaurant after his school exams, in June.

Before then, he’s got a Yamaha motorbike kit to finish building, a grade two music theory exam next week, and will start on his grade three theory, while continuing with his grade four piano. In our additional music lesson (we have two a week now) we’ve also been learning to play the clarinet (so much easier when you can already read music), and next month, we’re going to start looking at poetry, lyrics, and songwriting.

The last piece of news is that my next book is finally out on Kindle. It will be in paperback as soon as I get the full cover in the next couple of days. Click the cover to reach the Amazon.com page for more details.

Yesterday, not long after sharing that photo of the harbour in the sunshine, I went out for a walk, got so far along the edge of the hillside, and realised it was about to rain, so I came back. However, I managed to get this shot of two buzzards or eagles making lazy circles in the sky…

That’s probably not dust on your screen, but two tiny black dots which were, in fact, the massive birds above me.

… Sit alone and talk, and watch a hawk making lazy circles in the sky… (‘Oklahoma’) One of Oscar Hammerstein II’s better lines if you ask me because it’s exactly what hawks do; they circle above, riding the thermals and making lazy circles. The line makes sense, unlike some of his others. I mean, ‘To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray.’ (The Sound of Music.)

Say what? For a start, if you were in my nunnery and you sang all night, I’d have you thrown in a cell for disturbing the peace. Secondly, do birds pray? If they do, where do they learn to pray? And do they sing their way through the rehearsals?

Anyway, that’s the kind of mood I’m in today as I listen to the wind howling around the house, watch the white bits on the sea, and wonder if the boat will be on time tomorrow. Yes, I’m going back to Rhodes for the day to finish off my annual MOT, and to hang out with the godson after, to wander the streets, and maybe to go to the shops when my heart is lonely because I know I shall find what I’ve found before. The stores fill my heart with the sound of… cash registers, actually, and no, I shan’t be shopping.

Which has just reminded me, I need to send a thank you email to Fasma Models in Athens. www.fasmamodels.gr/  We had a disaster with a Porsche and got glue on the windscreen (I say ‘we’ when I mean a hormonal teen), so I emailed the shop and asked where I could find a replacement. They rang me back to get the serial number from the box- you may remember this, about six weeks ago – and said they’d be in touch. Yesterday, along with a Grade Three Theory of Music book, arrived a box inside of which was the frame holding all transparent ‘glass’ parts for the Porsche, with no charge and even the postage paid for. What wonderful service and what a lovely surprise. The hormonal teen is coming this afternoon to work on the Yamaha GPz 150 XRS Turbo 67P or whatever the F it’s called, so he will be pleased. (Maybe not about the grade three theory book, but…)

See you next week!

March 20th is suddenly upon me. Why is that important? It’s not, but today is one of those days when I woke up and thought I had nothing to do but edit my book. Then, I realised I’ve also got to do a piece of writing for someone else, plus this blog, my Jackson Marsh blog, and a newsletter, because I have another book appearing in a promotion starting today. Then, I also have to check some more chapters of the next book, arrange the layout files ready to send, buy boat tickets for Friday, transfer some money from my ever-dwindling savings account, go for a walk, and, later, play the piano. A day to keep me busy, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Oh, if Neil goes to the gym, I’ll also have to cook lunch. On top of that, I promised my piano student that I would work for 20 minutes per day on one piece (as I have asked him to do this week) as a challenge, so I’ve got to find time to fit in some Mozart.

A good job, then, that it’s a lovely weather day and I can at least share the view with you even if I don’t have time to share much else.

Straight to the desk, straight to the last edit and check of the next book, and I’m happily reading away when I remember I’ve not been here and done this. So, I’m doing it now with a few photos and snippets. The carnival happened in Yialos on Sunday followed by ten minutes of fireworks, Clean Monday saw a calm and quiet day, as is today, although the King Saron came in yesterday, and there’s a large cruiser or small cruise ship in the harbour this morning. H came for his piano lesson yesterday, and we followed that with two hours at the model building station. It’ll soon be time to pack that up as we head into summer and real people have to go and do real jobs. Neil will be back at the bar, and H will be back at the Kali Strata Restaurant, while our other godson has secured a cheffing job in Yialos. I shall be carrying on as usual.

As for the photos, a mixed bag today.

It’s Clean Monday, the start of Lent, and we should be talking about seafood and fasting, but let’s talk swimming pools instead. Now and then I pop into some of the Symi-flavoured groups on Facebook just to see what topics are the talk of the day, and then, if they inspire me, I talk about them here. Recently there were questions about boats and ferry timetables not being available, and ‘Will there be a boat to Symi at 5.43 on August the 17th-and-a-quarter?’ and suchlike. The printable answer to which is, ‘Wait and see when the timetables come out.’

Recently, I’ve noticed a few enquiries about swimming pools, not all of which are met with sympathy.

When people ask me if Symi has a place with a pool, I tell them we are surrounded by one, but you have to remember that not everyone feels confident in the sea; even when it’s calm, you can walk in on sand (St Nicholas, Giala, and a small area in Pedi), and you float because it’s so salty. For some, a holiday is all about reclining by a pool, dipping in and out, reading the latest Jackson Marsh (ahem), and now and then wandering over to the bar for another cocktail. Each to his own. If you’re a poolside tourist, then Symi will disappoint because there are very few places with pools. Off the top of my Monday morning head, I can only think of the Old Markets Hotel and Iapetos Village, though I am sure someone told me there was one somewhere else, at a property I’ve never been to… and the Opera House is also building a small pool which will be ready for this summer. Anyway, the point is, yes there are a couple of places with pools, but they are small and because of building regulations, under cover and so, often quite cold, and they probably aren’t what you might be thinking of.

For example. This is a shot of the swimming pool at the Castellum Suites in Rhodes; a typical city hotel kind of pool.

And these are photos I pulled from the internet, from Trip Advisor and A Hotel Life. The first, shows Iapetos, the second, the Old Markets (it was the only photo I could find).

As you can see, there’s a difference.

So, the quick answer to the question, ‘Are there places with swimming pools?’ is yes, but…

What there are more of are beaches, and if you’re okay in the sea, you’ll have a field day. Or rather, a beach day, as long as you don’t mind pebbles, and as long as you are aware of spiky sea urchins (in places).