This post is designed to last you the weekend, and comes with recent and random photos.

Apparently, it’s this thing that’s called Black Friday tomorrow, a time when we are bombarded with advertising for things we don’t need until we realise we might need them after all. At least, we’d like to have them because by spending €199.00 we didn’t intend to spend, we can save €50.00. Go figure. While everyone is online and out and about spending to save, I shall be saving my spending money to pay for a boat, two root canals, lunch, a taxi if it’s raining and other ‘day in Rhodes’ essentials.

To last readers the long weekend, I have a purchasing opportunity for you and a freebie, but first, in local news, it sounds like the harbour clock tower clock had been repaired. I heard it strike five this morning, and after some bleary-eyed investigation, I found it was on time. (Unlike the village church clock at Ag Triada, which has been a few minutes out for some time now.) The way I discovered it was now striking again was by way of a microwave and a cabinet light from Temu. I woke up and saw that it was still dark, so it wasn’t yet six, and I got up to do a quick bathroom trip. Thanks to the streetlight near the house, I don’t have to turn on any lights when this happens, as it shines in just enough to light the way, but not enough to see the kitchen clock. Therefore, to check the time, I use the microwave clock, because it glows. Squinting closer, because I’d left my glasses beside the bed, I discovered it was 00.04, which felt a little odd, because I’d only gone to bed two hours earlier and yet I felt wide awake. Bathroom done, I decided to head back to bed, but found I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I rose again, and this time, took my clothes so I could sit in the living room and doze on the sofa if necessary. Before I got there, though, I had to make a cup of tea, and when I went back to the kitchen, the time was still 00.04. Very odd. Then, the sensor on the under-cabinet light burst into unnatural light, illuminating the wall clock, which read 04.58, or similar. Eh? Then I heard a clock strike five and again thought, eh? (Mainly because I hadn’t heard it for years.) Turned out, someone (me) hadn’t reset the microwave when I last used it, and I hadn’t turned off the timer; therefore, it had been on pause at 00.04 seconds. That mystery solved, I was free to enjoy my cup of tea and think, ‘What to write on the blog?’

Ah, I thought, I know…

I could write about Neil’s trip to the dentist yesterday, where he had a tooth out. I could mention the cabin-sized backpack I’d ordered, and which arrived from Skroutz yesterday, and how, on being impressed by it, I immediately ordered one for Neil. Within minutes, I had an email from Skroutz asking if I had mistakenly made a double order, or did I mean to buy another? I thought that was an impressive safety double-check from the company selling the things, but then, I am already a Skroutz fan. Then, I thought, I could tell you about this…

That’s the Amazon.co.uk link, but you can find the tracks on various audio outlets, like Spotify. Have a look around and have a listen, the numbers are, by turns, humorous and poignant. A ‘must have’ for Christmas, surely? When your copy arrives, you’ll get not only an enjoyable listen, but also a very informative insert with photographs by Neil, and other artistic contributions from others who live on Symi.

So, that’s’ your first purchase option.

As for the freebie, well, this may not be up everyone’s street, but the first book in my first Victorian detective series is available all weekend for free. This, obviously, is a move designed to draw in new readers who may, I hope, enjoy book one and then go on to order, in bulk, the other 10 books in that series, the seven in the follow-on series, and so far, 10 in the third series. We shall see. Here’s the universal link that should take you to your appropriate Amazon store, where you can order a paperback, Kindle version, or where you can add it to your Kindle Unlimited pile.

For those friends who not only read this blog but also read my Jackson Marsh books, you might like to know that I have a second volume of The Clearwater Tales coming out before Christmas, so keep an eye out.

Anyway, enough of the beige Friday chitter chatter, do I have any other vital news for you?

Thinks.

Can’t think of anything.

So, I’ll toddle off and arrange my boat tickets for tomorrow while keeping an eye on the weather, and will see you back here next week.

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It’s a no-news day today, as I suspect it will be for many days through the winter. I was going to start telling you about our upcoming trip, as it’s less than four weeks away now, but the details can wait a while longer. (The same details I have been boring everyone with through the summer), but you will learn all about it in time, I am sure.

Yesterday was a colder day than of late, with the temperature in our courtyard down to 16°, where it had been 20 + for some time. A cold breeze, now faded, it seems, left its chill behind, and I now have to wear a hoodie if I am outside for long. Actually, I wore a jacket last night as we sat at the Rainbow (outside) for a couple of hours. We went down to celebrate Yiannis’ wife Katarina’s name day, but then again, any excuse, eh? And on a completely different note, we went the very long way around to get there. In other words, went for a short walk first, passing the old toilet block as we went. So, I shall leave you with a photo of Symi public WCs.

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Hope you’re having a great day. I came across your Facebook page and noticed your email, so I wanted to reach out. As a fellow author, I thought it might be nice to connect and share a bit about our writing experiences.

I received another one of those today, two in fact. Rather, the same one, twice. ‘Hi, I’m a fellow author…’ No, you are not, you’re someone hoping to make money out of indie authors by using poorly-generated AI spam. Take that and stick it up your bot a bit! (Bounces the spam back and puts sender on the backlist. Who uses ‘a bit’ in any communication?) And never ‘reach out’ to me again. If you must, you can contact me… I’ll emphasize that again: Con-tact, not ‘reach out.’ Shudders. (Gets over it.)

On the other hand, there’s great excitement in the office today, because I have a new chair.

I don’t think we can say ‘space age’ any longer, because we’re in it, but fancy, not costly, and easy enough to put together. Neil and I did that without paying the €35.00 fee for the assembly service the company offered. Can you imagine? Chair arrives, followed by a three-month wait for the putter-together to come down from Thessaloniki and follow a page of graphics. Did it in fifteen minutes, give or take. Now, I am using it, and so far, so good. Even the chair is smiling.

Anyway, today, I have a short story to finish for the next compilation. I might reach out to the shop later and see if they have any supplies. Then, tomorrow, I may reach out to Neil and see if he wants to go for a walk. I am reaching out to a dentist on Friday, over in Rhodes as you know, and while here, I might reach out to Harry and see if we can connect and share a bit about our day. If we do, I’ll reach out to you after, and we can connect about it for a bit.

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Friday didn’t happen. Well, yes, it did, but not in the way it was meant to. I had booked an appointment for a consultation with a dentist in Rhodes, and that was set for 11.00. I booked the boat ticket (07.45 out, 18.15 back), and that was that. An hour later, I had a message from Blue Star saying that due to bad weather, the boat would be coming in two hours early at 5.30. I didn’t much fancy being up at 4.00 and spending the next 16 hours travelling and hanging around Rhodes for a 10-minute appointment. So, I changed the appointment to this Friday instead, and there’s a chance Neil will be coming too, and we should both be able to meet up with Harry for a late lunch. (The ferry ended up coming in at 6.15.)

It’ll be nice to catch up with the chap as we’ve not seen him for a few weeks. His brother was with him over the weekend as they were going to Manolis’ wedding in Faliraki. (Manolis from the Kali Strata Restaurant, where both boys work.) I can’t help but wonder how Sam, at 6’3”, managed to share his brother’s digs, because he’s only got one room and it’s only about 6’3” x 3’6” (for a couple of hundred a month, thank you very much – oh, and no kitchen either), but they must have managed somehow.

As for the weather, it’s been hovering around a humid 20° in the shade, and we’ve been using the dehumidifier overnight. Taking short walks in the afternoon, and the village is so quiet you wouldn’t recognise it. It was livelier yesterday afternoon because Georgio’s has started having musicians play on Sunday lunchtimes, and it is proving very popular. So popular, that after yesterday’s lunch sitting, they were just thinking about packing up and cleaning down the kitchen, when the wedding party from Panormitis rang to book a table for 30 people. Very last minute if you ask me.

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I have this friend in England who sends me daily ‘doom and gloom’ emails, usually about UK politics and the weather. I hear there has been some snow, freezing temperatures already, and other adverse weather things going on further north than here. The reactions to a little bad weather in Britain are becoming increasingly more ‘chicken laid an egg’ these days. You know, when there’s that surprised squawking sound and a flurry of feathers, followed by running around in circles in panic because a more or less daily event has just happened. I wonder if the trains have stopped running yet (wrong kind of wheels on the tracks), or if there have been ‘Possibility of Death’ alerts because there was a sighting of a light flurry in Godalming. I’m sure I read somewhere that old people are being sent alerts because of mild temperature drops, which to me sounds like a bit of a distraction. ‘Sorry you can’t afford to put your heating on, love, here, have a free warning that you can expect it to be cold. It’ll come on your smartphone. What? Don’t have a smartphone, love? Then you’re going to be right royally flummoxed when it comes to getting your invite for a free medical check that could save your life. Ah well, I’ll put you down for a ‘Distinct possibility of freezing to death’ alert by post… Oh, we’re not allowed to send letters anymore, love, too costly. Never mind, eh? You had a good innings, just vote Reform next time, and you’ll be reet.’

Which is all a long way of saying, it’s not too bad here right now. Still no heating on, just extra clothes and a blanket on the bed, overcast these past few days, but no rain as yet. I hope it stays that way for tomorrow because I have a day away. It’ll be one of those, ‘Popping over to Rhodes for an appointment that will take 30 minutes, followed by six or more hours of waiting for the boat back’ kind of days. I may do a little shopping for the Europ-trip (which you will hear more about as time goes on), but mostly, I will be having lunch with the godson and catching up on how college is going, I hope. So, no blog until Monday, possibly, if I have anything to witter about.

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