Symi delivery services
I’m glad I wasn’t on the early boat on Wednesday morning, it must have felt freezing down there at 04.30 waiting for the 05.00 boat. It’s bad enough up here in the office with the temperature plummeting to 15 degrees… I know, but it feels a lot colder in the north wind that’s been blowing about for the last couple of days. It’s due to die down today though it’s not forecast to warm up again, not until it turns cloudy at the weekend. Ah, the variable weather of winter.

The fingers are cold and the typing is not going well, because of it, I spend more time correcting than I do typing, but I have finished my draft four of ‘The Saddling’ and have sent it off to the first reader. The second reader should get his in a few days and the third at the weekend. Meanwhile I can now turn my attention to another set of stories and travel tales, once I have done some Christmas shopping and those other bits and pieces that need doing. Note: must go to post office, find more cat food (not at the post office) and look into some cat litter, as it were.

Talking of post, here’s one of those quirky and rather lovely Symi things that happens every now and then. Only a small thing but means a lot. I had a message from Jenine that ACS, the couriers, had a parcel for me in Yialos. ACS told her they would deliver it to Sotiris supermarket for me and low and behold, when we called in there on Wednesday, there I was, waiting behind the seasonal chocolates at the end of the deli counter. How handy! So, that’s one Christmas present here and delivered.

If you still need ideas for presents for people, can I point you to the right >> where you will see links to Neil’s two calendars and also to my books; Symi related books at the top and lower down, the others that are not necessarily Symi related.

Off to warm up now.

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Quick blog, mainly weather
The air temperature has definitely cooled over the last day or so, thanks to a slight breeze. I’ve been at home doing the usual and so still don’t have any new and interesting photos, so will scrape a bit harder at the bottom of the summer barrel and maybe revive some memories.

With the weather now cooling off it will soon be time to put the towels down over the gaps beneath the doors, pull the curtains across and dust off the heater- Jack will love that. Closing the shutters also helps, but does make the house very gloomy during the day. I have a towel across my office window-gap so that I can block out some of the breeze, and keep my fingers warm, but it seems to be directing the cold air flow to my feet. And we’re only talking around 17 degrees now, it’s not even that cold yet. It’s dropping to 15 and 14 over the next day or so as the wind comes from the north-west, but rising again for the weekend.

That’s about all I have to say today, another quiet day with Neil recovering nicely thank you, and thanks to the doctors in Yialos. I have almost finished my current draft of the next novel, draft four and am almost ready to send it out to some ‘beta readers’ for their feedback. Scary times. I have a few more things to check through and then it should be done. The next thing will be to take a break, maybe search around for a cover design and then start work on the next one after this; a set of travel tales and something to do with living on Symi… Watch this space.

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Symi Cinema
So, what is there to do on Symi in the winter? Well, for a start, for some, it’s work as usual. For others, it’s time to look for another job to help make ends meet for six months. For others, it’s time to travel and, for some, time to go away to work, to help make ends further meet. For those who have saved for the winter, or have an income through the winter, there’s time to relax after the summer, spend time on all those things that get put off during the hot weather, meet fiends and socialise, and spend some quality time. Yes, but what is there to do?

Apart from the walks, you mean? Apart from the festivals to attend, the occasional evening meal at one of the open tavernas, some time at the bar watching sport, mingling, chilling out, and all that? Well, there are also some organised events. Birthday parties, name days, that kind of thing. And there’s the cinema. Okay, so we’re not talking usherettes and ice creams in tubs, Kiora orange and Pearl & Dean adverts: “Visit our curry house, the finest curries in Folkestone!” announced in a clipped 1950s British accent. “Ron’s carpets, the bet carpet shop on the High Street.” (The only carpet shop and it’s just off the high street actually, around the back of the public toilets.) Not that kind of cinema, but the semi-open air one arranged at Mandeio’s in Horio each Sunday.

Peter and the Symi Gallery have been showing films there for a few years now and manage to find interesting world cinema and subtitles, usually in English and Greek, or whatever is appropriate, and punters sit on the terrace (enclosed in the plastic sheeting of winter at this time of year) where they can order drinks and food and watch the films projected onto a decent sized ‘large’ screen. These events are free.

And now there is the children’s cinema club every second Sunday. These films start at 5.30 pm and have Greek subtitles/dubbing where needed. I am told that the next show will be The Smurfs, on Sunday 20^th at half five, at Mandeio’s, Horio. Often with children’s films that are not Greek, the dialogue is dubbed into Greek and I think that’s going to be the case with this one. I’ve often tried to Watch the Asterix films on television, where the dialogue is in French and the subtitles are in Greek; that’s a challenge for the linguistically challenged like me, but I have managed to get through one of the Crimson River films in this manner and understood, between the two languages, around 70% of it. It’s that thing about translating the dialogue from, say, French into English at the same time as translating Greek the subtitles, or as much as you can get of them in the short time they are there.

Anyway, if you’re around Symi at the moment and fancy the Smurfs in Greek – and let’s face it, who doesn’t? – then Sunday 20^th is your date. Keep an eye out on Facebook and elsewhere for announcements about other films that might be showing at the Symi Cinema Club.

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Weekend catch-up
Neil has returned, bringing all manner of illnesses with him. It must have been horrendous traveling, but he’s back now and relative calm has been unrestored. Our neighbours have been wonderful; picking him up form Panormitis, bringing medicines and offering to cook. That’s what living on Symi is all about – that and a lot of other things.

The cat, as you can see, is nonplussed by it all. He’s been his usual hungry self, loud and ear-scratching, but that’s cats for you.

The courtyard is still in autumn mode. Leaves are starting to fall from the vine and I am sure the thing produces more dead ones than it does live ones; I’m always out there sweeping them up. It will soon be time to enthusiastically cut the thing back. The other plants are starting to shed and look like they are preparing for the darker days and colder weather. I’m not sure if the chilli plant is going to survive. It made some attempts to put out chillies this year, its first year. There were lots of flowers and buds, but no actual chillies to follow. Perhaps it’s a first-year thing. Yiannis’ plants at the Rainbow thrived and still has chillies on them so perhaps it’s the position ours is in.

I managed to get the house sorted and tidied on Saturday morning and spent Sunday working on the current draft of the book. I know, it takes a long time to get these things right and I am trying hard on this one. I’m being very strict with myself over my repetitions and unnecessary words, after all, if a word is not necessary then it shouldn’t be there. While I was working, a couple of Afghan guys came to the door looking for our landlord. I think they also rent a house from him. They very politely asked if he was here and I explained, in a mix of Greek and English (as my Persian is so rusty) that we hadn’t seen him for some time and he is in Thessaloniki; beyond that we don’t actually know what’s going on, we only hope he is okay. We had a quick, pleasant chat and wished each other good days. Apart from that, and cooking, washing up, seeing to the cat, feeding Neil cuppa-soups (he can’t eat much at the moment) and doing the washing, I had a reasonably uninterrupted day.

And so, on to the week ahead, with not much in the diary to talk about. The weather remains dry and warm, though many are wishing for rain as it is sorely needed. I’ve been watching kestrels over the sea and a large eagle down towards Pedi. Other migrating birds have been stopping through, unlike boats; the harbour is very quiet, though there was a stray Turkish gulet in the other day. It’s all go here. Not.

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Symi Saturday Photos
A few photos for today, taken recently, and a reminder that, if you are looking for something special for yourself or others for Christmas, then the Symi Dream Calendar is still on sale. If you have friends who are cat lovers then Neil’s Cats of Greece calendar is also there. Here are the links:

Symi Calendar

Cats Calendar

At both places you can see a preview of all the photos and change the currency with the flag icon at the top – make sure you change to your currency location to save on postage. Enjoy!

Here are the photos to give you your Symi fix for the weekend.

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