Symi Calendar

It looks like Neil will have a bumper crop of photos for next year’s Symi calendar. This year’s (found only on Lulu.com) shows various images of Pedi, but next year’s looks like there will be shots from all over the island and some unusual views too. Not everyone gets the chance to head out to the hinterland and see the morning views across the hills and through the forest, so let’s hope there will be some of those places included. He’s not started work on it yet as it’s still a little early in the year, but I know he has been saving plenty of potential photographs. Here are some of the things you might see… A few of his recent photos taken mainly in the early morning.

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Local News

In local news… They still haven’t moved that skip. It’s dreadful.

That was from a Victoria Wood sketch I saw on TV once, and it made me laugh. In close to home news, the taverna, George and Maria, has been painted and was due to open last weekend, I believe. I’m not sure if it has because I’m not usually out in the evening, but I expect it has. There was a definite smell of garlic wafting in the vicinity recently. As you can see, Rainbow is not yet open, but it shouldn’t be long.

While on a walk the other morning, I stopped to watch a pair of chaffinches playing around a tree. If you zoom in to this photo and squint, you might just be able to see them. (Good luck!)

There was a spectacular sunrise the other morning, so colourful, it had me scooting up to the roof to take a shot for you. It was completely different about two minutes later, so I caught it just in time.

And, the poppies are out, the oregano is in bloom, but the Judas plants are fading, taking their nasty smell with them. Those are the lily type things that come out around Easter every year, and I can’t remember their real name. And that’s about all my news that’s fit to print today.

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Pics and Dates

Let’s have a few more of Neil’s wonderful photos to start the week. We had another of our ‘typical’ weekends, but with an added treat. ‘Typical’ being, working away on the final draft of the next book, a couple of walks (length varied depending on who was walking), plenty of sofa-surfing and the treat…? An evening at the kafeneion watching the limited world go by and enjoying being out of the house. That was our second visit since the cafés opened last week. I could get used to it.

I’m just looking at my diary to check what must be done this week and see I have two things to look forward to. Paying the rent and getting my second vaccination. I also have to get this draft finished soon, but that’s about it for ‘must do’ this month so far. I could get a call from Rhodes at any moment and have to go over for a fingerprint, but I reckon that’s not likely to happen until June. Apart from that, things are shaping up to be another quiet week.

Things are changing slightly on the island. The school are going back today, and back to school not via video, so piano lessons can start again. We’re waiting to hear exactly what’s what with restrictions after 15^th, and there are already some visitors on the island. I imagine they are people with properties who can now come back and check up on them; homeowners, I mean, and more business are preparing for whatever the summer season will hold. We’ll know more about that as time goes on, but usually, by this time of year, we would have seen regular visitors from northern Europe coming for their holiday, sometimes the first of two or more through the year.

So, it’s still something of a ‘wait and see’ case, and for me, a continuation of what’s been the norm of late, a combination of work, write, walk, watch but now, with added wine when we can afford to go to the café.

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I must go down to the sea again…

I thought I would post some of Neil’s recent photos that feature the sea to see us through the weekend. They were not hard to find because we are on an island, and I hope these show you the diversity of Symi’s coastline and beaches. For those who love being in the water, the swimming season has already started, and the sea is warming up. For those who like being under the water, there’s news coming soon of a new scuba diving company operating on the island. This will let amateurs and experienced divers alike access what lies beneath the Symi waves, and I hope to have more news about that soon. The last I heard, the country and its islands should be opening up to visitors in just over a week, all being well. It may depend on what country you are coming from and whether you’ve been tested. Still, in the meantime, you can imagine being here, and these photos should help. Have a good weekend.

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Random Photos and Updates

I have some random photos from my collection today, and I thought I would explain what they are. To start with, there’s one of the usual ‘sunrise over Pedi shots’ taken when I was walking the other morning. The camera never quite gets the colour right, the sky is often more coral than it shows here, where it looks orange. Still, it’s always a pleasant sight to see.

Then, a pre-dawn picture taken at the harbour as the Blue Star was coming in. This was from when I went to Rhodes to start my biometric card application. I’m now waiting to be called to go back again to have my fingerprint done for stage two of the process, and I hope to hear about that in a couple of weeks.

The church tower of St John in Yialos. I was waiting outside the surgery for my vaccination the other week and thought I’d just take a snap while I was there. The vaccinations have been well organised. You arrive, the nurse is at the window and checks you off, asks you to wait, and at your time, you are called in, monitored, asked a few questions and painlessly jabbed. Then there’s a waiting period (inside) in case you suffer any immediate effects, and when all is well, you can go. I expect it is like this all over the world, though not everyone will have this view while they are waiting.

And, again, from a few days ago, the guys preparing the Kali Strata for painting. This is done every spring. The weeds are removed, and paint is slapped on the risers, brightening up the steps, ready for summer. A lot of the time, it rains a few days later, and the pristine white becomes discoloured by the dust and mud washed down, or someone empties a washing machine on the steps and leaves a stain, but for a while, the steps dazzle in the sunlight. We’ve not had much rain this spring, so maybe they will stay whiter than usual this year.

And finally, the old shop. I notice it’s having an external electric meter box put in. I assume that’s what’s going on here. The box is/was inside the storeroom on the other side of this wall. It’s the first sign of activity at the building since 2015. I don’t know if it means there will soon be a new shop or not, but I can tell you that now the cafes and tavernas can open, some already have, and others are preparing for summer as they usually do. All good and hopeful signs – though I just heard Kalymnos, after being ‘freed’ like the rest of us, is now back on a strict 5-day lockdown. Must go and investigate that…

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