House-sitting available this winter on Symi
Before I witter on this morning, I want to let you know that there’s a house-sitting job available on Symi for about three months of this coming winter. The house is in Nimborio. I don’t know exact dates and details but, if you are interested, send me an email and I will send it straight on to the person who is looking for the house sitter. They will then get back to you. Simple!

Feeling a bit jawsy a’day

It was so hot on Sunday night that sleep was difficult. I was up well before the dawn and went out for a stroll in the cooler air. I thought I might take some shots of the harbour at dawn, and I did, but they are not as spectacular as shots of Pedi or the valley. That’s because the sun comes up behind main-road-hill and doesn’t shine onto the harbour until a little later in the morning, and I wasn’t waiting around that long. Back home and to the desk by 6.30 with the fan on me and the laptop to keep us both cool.

The story I am working on now, as I’ve said before, is the follow-up to The Saddling. (Link is over there on the right.) That book is proving to be my most popular so far, even though it’s only been out a few months, so that’s excellent news. To get the most out of ‘The Witching’, the follow-up, you will have had to read the first one. You’ll still be able to enjoy part two if you haven’t, but some things might leave you wondering ‘What was that referring to?’ I’m bashing on with the first draft and am already up to 31,000 words, about a third of the way through. One of the things I use for these stories is a book called ‘A Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect and Provincialisms’, and, as there is a copy on my desk, I thought I’d treat you to some Kentish dialect words at random.

Here’s an inappropriate one. Inappropriate because of the time of year the new book is set (summer) and the fact that we are in a bit of a heatwave over here. Heavenshard [hevnz-haa*d in pronunciation]. You can read that one two ways, but when you know what it means, you can see where it comes from. ‘It rains heavenshard.’

I hope you are not disabil today, like I am. [Dis*ubil] ‘I’m all in a disabil.’ Which actually means, in a state of untidy dress.

There is a fair amount of horse in this book. Horsebuckle (cowslip), Horse emmets (large ants), To horse (to tie the upper branches of the hop-plant to a pole), Horsesnails (tadpoles), and Horse-lock (a padlock).

Some of my favourites include Jawsy (talkative), Dodger (a nightcap), Buffle-headed (stupid) and Crank (merry or cheerful). It’s an endless source of fun for me, this book, but then I’m like that. Hopefully, the new novel will be a source of enjoyment for you. I only need to write at least another 60,000 words so I can then edit and improve, send it through several drafts and have it laid out, designed, covered and published. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed passing this time with me. I ’ope you’re feeling crank a’day and not dicky, and if it does rain heavenshard where you be, that you don’t get squatted when a-walking the poachy lope-way.

By the way, both The Saddling and The Witchling come with a glossary.

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Saturday night Sunday morning

It was good to see the village square cafes full on Saturday night. People were sharing tables, getting to know each other, meeting strangers and chatting. Both bars were busy, both tavernas were also doing well, and there was music at Georgio’s. Down in Yialos, where we had been in the morning to gets some bits and pieces, we had to wade through several groups of day-trippers and their guides. There were three or four day boats in, and the place was buzzing. It quietens down when everyone goes to lunch, but hopefully, the businesses had a good day and will have another good day today, Sunday.

I have a day at home planned, writing, as usual, making sure I do my 3,000 words per day. There are domestic duties to see to, the washing, some tidying up and sweeping. It’s good to have so many windows to open, especially when it is as hot as it has been lately, but it does leave the house open to dust and bits from trees which blow in on any breeze that might be around, not that there has been much of one for a while now.

The sea is calm today, there is a mist in the air, so I imagine it is going to be another humid day. The soldiers have just marched along the harbour and raised the flag, singing the national anthem, as they do every Sunday morning. They do the same again in the evening when they take it down. A few boats are heading out for the day already (it’s only just gone eight in the morning), and others are moored up along the harbour quayside. No doubt they will be off and sailing to a quiet bay later in the morning as well. The Diagoras is back and in the water. I saw her in Rhodes at the boat yard when I was returning from Cyprus a couple of weeks ago. I am not sure what trip it is doing. The Poseidon is going out every day, and the taxi boats looked busy on Saturday.

Everything is in summer mode and looking good. Just checking the weather forecast, I am told that… well, I am told that it’s going to be either 21 or 36, depending on which site you look at, so they’re not much good. It’s probably 21 at night, at least, and on one I’m told it’s going to be 26 today with a ‘real feel’ (whatever that is) of 29 degrees. I just looked at the thermometer in our courtyard, in the shade, and it reads 34 degrees. So I think we’ll let the weather forecasts think what they like to think. It doesn’t take a genius to look out of the window and see what your day’s weather is going to be. One of the reasons they are inaccurate around here is because there is no weather station on the island, that I know of. I suspect they take their readings from Rhodes airport, which is by the sea. I use the website Windfinder and take its readings from Datca, which is closer to us than Rhodes.

But that’s enough about the weather, lets’ get on with Sunday, I have words to write and edit and that washing won’t get done on its own.

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Saddling news and Symi photos

Kalo mina! We had a few photos from Cyprus yesterday and, as it’s a Saturday, here are some random ones from Symi. In a moment.

Before you browse through them, I must share news of my latest book, ‘The Saddling.’ It has gained another five-star review, so I am thrilled. Only six more to make 20. Have you read it yet? A quick review on Amazon will help with sales. Here’s what the latest reviewer has written:

“I was gripped by this compelling tale from the first page. It is a warren of clues and lore that builds to a thrilling climax only in the last few pages. The world of Saddling, with its dialect and characters, is beautifully crafted. I recommend it.”

Thank you! 😊

Meanwhile, I am now seven chapters into the follow-up, ‘The Witchling.’ Having invented my world of Saddling village with its own Lore and Teaching, its own dialect and characters, this one is falling onto the page easily. Mind you, I am only at chapter seven, and there’s a long way to go. There will then be the editing and further drafts, the checking and rewriting. But to get it out and down is actually a joy and I look forward to my 3,000 words per day. Luckily this week I have been able to achieve that target.

Anyway, here are some Symi Saturday photos for you. Have a good weekend, it looks like we are in for a hot one.

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Hot doorknobs

[Hacked notice. A couple of people have reported to me that when going to the Symi Dream, site, or when searching for it, they have seen a page/notice that says ‘This site might have been hacked.’ I checked with our hosting company who ran scans and did their own checking and their reply was “The generic malware scan did not turn up any suspicious files. Based on that and Firefox and Chrome loading the site without error, I would say the issue was with the users that reported it. A google search did not turn up any warnings either.” If you get a similar ‘possibly hacked’ massage, it may be that you have some bug on your browser. All seems fine here. Thanks for letting me know though.]

It’s 11.30 in the morning and in our courtyard, at the coolest point, it is 38 degrees. It was 28 at 5.30 this morning when we went out for a walk. Remember to cover up, use sun lotion, drink masses of water and wear a hat. Says he who spends all day trying to avoid the sun, never wears a hat unless going for a walk in the sun, but does drink at least three litres of water every day, even in the winter.

I called into a friend’s house yesterday to run a little errand for her. Her metal gate and saloni door face west and had been in the sun for quite a while. The gate was not a problem as I opened that with a key, but while opening the saloni door, I put my hand on the brass doorknob and… Next time I will take an oven glove. That’s all I’m saying.

Having been writing all morning, and feeling a little brain dead from the heat and work, I thought I’d just share some photos today, A few more from Cyprus, Paphos to be exact. It was about 40 degrees when I was there wandering around ancient ruins and looking a bit like one myself. There was time to sit and watch the seaside world go by though.

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Village hangouts

I’ve not looked for photos for this post yet and may not have any that are appropriate, but I just wanted to say… It’s been very busy at the Rainbow Bar (and Lefteris’ next door) these past few weeks, in the afternoons. It’s a great place to hang out and catch up with friends and the afternoon slot, between three and five (and onwards) is very popular with visitors. Maybe it’s because Neil works there at that time, but I also think it’s because Yiannis is an entertaining character and his prices are as low as they can be.

One of the great charms of Symi, for me, is sitting and watching the world go by. You can do that at these two bars, as you can at most others. You see some sights. These include day-trippers wandering around trying to find ‘the church.’ They can see it from the harbour as they come in and come up to take a look at it. They usually mean the church at Lemonitisa, with the red dome, the one that overlooks the harbour below. It’s fairly easy to find once you ask someone. They are also looking for the museum, but that shuts in the early afternoon. You can often see great disappointment on faces when they’ve climbed up to 400 steps to the village only to discover that the museum is another couple of hundred up, but it’s closed. It’s open from eight in the morning until two (or it may be three, I’ll look next time I pass) every day apart from Monday.

You see some other sights too. People in swimwear usually get some twisted expressions behind their backs as they pass. Budgie smugglers are not the thing to wear when wandering around a village anywhere in the world. You wouldn’t do it at home so why do it here guys? And as for ladies whose skin is looser than their bikinis, well, let’s not go there. Occasionally you will see people pushing their bicycles either up or down the steps; always seems like an odd one to me, but I have seen people ride them down, and have also seen mopeds going up and down the steps. Mechanical diggers occasionally pass by. You also get to know the local cats who come to say hello and see if there is any food available.

With the news fans at both bars, and with the street being a natural wind tunnel towards and from the sea, it’s often a cooling place to sit too. Unless it’s a cold day in which case it can have the opposite effect; in this case, you can sit inside. There’s shade, enough tables for around 30 people per bar and more can be brought out, and there’s always a good atmosphere. Recently it’s been busy because there have been a lot of British visitors, some of whom left yesterday, but no doubt there will be more during June, to be taken over by the Italian and Greek visitors of July and August, before returning in September.

When you are visiting, make sure to come up to the village and find these two bars. They are open from nine (Lefteris is often there by 5.30 in the morning), and they close whenever the last person leaves at night. Everyone’s welcome to sit and watch the budgie smugglers and saggy-skinned sirens go by. Or just read a good book. 😉

(As you can see, only one relevant image, and it’s not even mine, so some random ones instead.)

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