Cats and Cards

Monday is turning out to be an interesting day so far, and it’s only 09.45 as I write this. First of all, that cat…

We all know about the Alarm Cat, well he’s just as big and bullish as ever, but today he wanted to go out and about. He’s done this before and not always come back, but recently he’s been going out for a quick socialise down at the front of the house and then comes back a little while later, having got something out of his system. We’re not talking litter box here as he certainly got something out of his system and into that overnight. The porch looked like someone had let off a hand grenade in the litter tray. Still, he went out, and I could see him exploring the fig tree and surrounding area, so went back to work. A while later and there was an enormous slanging match going on between two cats, one of them being Jack. That died down, and he came home. I found him sitting by the open balcony door, looking quite pleased with himself. I was on my way out there to have my breakfast while watching the catamaran come in. Out on the balcony, which is about 15 feet above the ground, there was this mate Jack had brought home with him. A black and white thing that looked rather put out to see me. Before I had a chance to back away (and let him exit via the house), he panicked and scrambled, slipped and went tail first off the balcony. There was something of a thump as he hit the ground below, but he got up and wandered off as if nothing had happened. I had words with Jack about bringing friends back without permission, and he rolled over and went to sleep.

I was also messaging Neil at this time as he is now in Lincoln and ready for his exam. By the time you read this, that will all be over and 12 + months of hard work will have paid off. We’ll know more about how it went tomorrow, and the results won’t be out until August as it’s a GCSE, but I am sure he will do well in it. After that, he’s dashing down to London to meet other Symi friends at the Greek Film Festival and attended a screening (premiere) tonight (Monday, keeping up?). Again, we will know more about how this went tomorrow because, by the time it starts, I shall be abed.

And now, at nearly 10.00 in the morning, yesterday, I am heading down to Yialos. I need to get the rent money out of Alpha, and I have my card for that, and some spending money out of my other account so I can buy more cat litter for Jack to play with… Ah. That moment when you realise your partner has gone to the yUK for ten days and taken your ATM machine card with him. Um… Luckily, I have been saving my annual health insurance money each month, so I well have to dig into that and pay it back when Neil, and hopefully my card, return next week.

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Sunday on Symi, what to do?

After all the excitements of the last couple of weeks (book launches, football tournaments, film award announcements), Sunday came as a bit of a shock. A quiet day with nothing to do. The thing about having nothing to do is that I can never decide what to do, so I end up wandering around doing bits and pieces of nothing. A bit of tidying up there, watering the plants, putting that thing away that’s been sitting there for three months and that only took 30 seconds to do, that kind of thing. I didn’t help that I was up at six, as per usual, so have the whole day ahead with very little to do.

I know, there is plenty to do out there: walking into the hills, around the bays, over to Nimborio, down to Yialos for a look around the shops, a coffee in the square, visit a beach, even take a boat trip now that the Poseidon is running again, but I don’t actually have a whole day spare as I have to sit at the bar in the afternoon while Neil is away. He’s currently at Gatwick, in a hotel, and taking a bus from there in the early afternoon. By the time you read this, he should be in Lincoln.

He is sitting his IGCSE exam today in Newark, and I am sure we all wish him well for that. (Good luck, not that you need it.) Then he’s catching a train back to London to go to the London Greek Film Festival and the premiere of ‘The 13^th’ which screens tonight at 21:15 in Camden. So, he’s in for a busy day today (Monday) while I am in for a very quiet one today (Sunday). Don’t you love all this time-slipping? I usually write these posts the day before you read them, that way I don’t have to think about them first thing in the morning. I used to do that but would often end up with a ‘can’t think of anything to say’ post, a bit like today.

So, what am I going to do? Well, but by bit I am working through the list of chores: take rubbish to the bins, feed stray cats, tidy the house, put the clothes away, do some washing, empty the litter tray, see to chopping back some of a fig tree, making something with the mince I bought last night, writing something for the blog tomorrow, oh I am doing that, sweeping the courtyard, cleaning the bathroom, answering some emails, making some notes for a new novel. No wonder there’s no time to get to the beach. Mind you, if I did go to a beach, I wouldn’t know what to do when I got there. Sweep the sand, polish the rocks, even up the sunbeds, I don’t know. I can’t sit still for very long, which makes a ‘day off’ a very tiresome business.

Perhaps I’ll do some more work on a sequel for ‘The Saddling.’ I know, the first one is only just out and you may not have had a chance to read it yet, but it’s getting good reviews already, and the feedback is very positive. A lot of ‘best yet’ and ‘hard to put down’ comments coming in from some nice people and some complete strangers who I am sure are also very nice. I have an idea for the next one. Whereas The Saddling is about water (in a certain way, as you will see when you read it) I think the next one (tentatively called ‘The Witchling’) will be about fire. That could suggest two more, earth and air, should the response be good. I have a rough idea for a plot to get me going, many of the same characters will be there and develop, there will be some new ones, and the main themes of family-history-mystery, rural myths, Romney Marsh and self-discovery will also be there.

If I can’t get on with that this morning, then I still have pages of ‘Symi Stuff & Nonsense’ to prepare as I’d like to get that out for you later in the year. More Symi ramblings, some developed from these blog posts, others that are about travel to other places, some word play and other, well, stuff and nonsense really. The first draft is complete, I just need to be in the right mood to second draft it and make it better. Hm. I think I may have finally talked, or written, rather, myself into getting on with that this morning. I’d better go and make a start.

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Symi Saturday photos

Ten for you today, and few words. Shots from up here at the house, down in Yialos, sunrise, the new Pedi jetty, Pandelis who will be on the silver screen in London on Monday night with others from Symi, and some other random shots from recently.

Neil is off to England today, I have a mind full of ideas for a new story and so will spend the weekend on those, and the housework, and the day-to-day, and will see you back here on Monday. Don’t be late, but do have a good weekend.

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Symi football champions

The Subject of conversation on Symi yesterday, and probably still today was the AOS Symi Football team winning 4 – 3 in the finals against Niki Rodou on Wednesday night. Apparently, it was a nail-biter, but the boys won through. Brilliant news, and watch out Camber Sands where the boys will be competing in an international tournament in a couple of weeks’ time. And congratulations must also go to their coach, Spiros Hatzipetros, and the families and friends of everyone in involved who encouraged and supported. I grabbed this photo from Dawn’s Facebook page, as she said I could.

I knew when the team was coming home, however, because the Panagia came in with its horns sounding, the church bells rang, the children at the school up here were whistling and cheering, there was a round of applause from everyone down at the harbour, car horns sounded and a flare was lit. The boys, in their kit, received a heroes’ welcome and sang as they marched along the harbour, being congratulated all the way. It’s moments like that that bring a tear to the eye (Neil is still sniffing in the room next door) and remind you why you live in a place like this.

Here’s a short video:

Neil will be taking my camera away with him today, so I shall be without it for nearly two weeks. Taking mine means he doesn’t have to take his heavy, long lens, as mine has that super-zoom. He’ll still have his bigger Nikon for general shots too. This means you may have to rely on older images from my archives for the next several blog posts unless I get out and about with the heavy camera and long lens.

Meanwhile, down in the harbour, the work continues on the new jetty, or landing and unloading area for the big boats. The catamaran came in yesterday and I was hoping to see the triumphant football team returning, but they must have been coming on a later boat, as there was no sign of them. There were, though, people getting off with cases and bags, so visitors are arriving all the time.

Here’s a quick plug for ‘The Judas Inheritance.’ If you haven’t read it, I thought you might like to read it before the film comes out.

Wonderful cover artwork from Red Raven Book Design. https://www.redravenbookdesign.com/

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Symi, Boats

As you can see from the photos taken yesterday, the strong wind and grey skies have left. The wind died down on Monday afternoon, and by Tuesday morning, this was the view as the Blue Star Naxos came in. (I assume the Patmos was having a day off.) The last I heard, the ferry strikes are going to be next week. If you are travelling this way, check out the shipping news, or ask a travel agent.

Yiannis was on the boat on Wednesday morning, off to see his newest granddaughter over in Rhodes for the day. He left Neil in charge of the bar all day, so he had a pretty long haul, but still not as many hours as Yiannis, and many others put in during one day at work, especially in the summer. In the height of the season, the bars are often open from eight in the morning (earlier in some cases) and stay open until the last customer leaves. This can be like two or three in the morning on some occasions. Yes, I know things slow down in the winter when you need them to be busy, but still, seven days a week, at up to 18 hours per day, for seven months, it’s a hard slog.

We have more visitors coming these days, though we’ve still not quite hit the start of the summer rush. More regular and long-stayers are coming back, or have come back to open up their houses and be ready for the hot months ahead. The live music nights at various places have started up again, restaurants are open, in fact, I expect they are all open by now, and so are the bars and most of the tourist shops. There’s plenty to do, the island now has three travel agents that I know of, and they organise tours and bus trips, boat trips and other things to do while you are on Symi. There’s no sign of an Olympic rep yet, though there have been Olympic guests here. Everyone else seems to be already welcoming guests and cleaning houses, changing beds and getting back into that summer mode.

The Symi – Sea Dreams – is just arriving as I write, the Nikolaos X is making trips, the Panagia Skiadeni is running for day trips, and there are then the ‘Spanos’ catamarans coming across regularly too. That’s all from Rhodes. So, the season is showing signs of a good and early start, and the transport is all up and running. Which reminds me, I wonder if the Symi bus still has masking tape holding its windscreen together?

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