Kalo Mina! Happy Month!

I was having a bit of an ‘at home’ morning yesterday, pottering around, wondering how long the generator would be parked outside our bedroom window, would it ever stop? Where the cat had found to sleep as he wasn’t bothering me for a change, and then I thought, I’d pop up on the roof and get some shots with the long lens. So, here today are some shots from up on the roof, as the Drifters might have said. Some have been cropped-in so are a bit fuzzy.

Actually, Up On The Roof was/is also a musical by Simon Moore and Jane Prowse, I remember walking by it in the 1980s in London and, on further investigation, I discover that it was also made into a film. As the IMDB says about it: “Set in the early eighties; following the lives of a bunch of young university students who sing together in their own ‘On The Roof’ club. It follows their lives throughout the years, occasionally meeting up for a sing along and a good old British natter. All in all, the film is watchable, albeit you will appreciate it more if you are a fan of accapella music.” (sic) I tried to find a DVD copy of the film but could only find VHS and there was no sign of the CD soundtrack either. Anyway…

Talking of ‘accapella’ (a cappella, the Italian, is the correct spelling in musical direction terms), the other night we watched a film called ‘Pitch Perfect’ which stars Anna Kendrick – this is a feel good film about an a cappella singing group, and Anna Kendrick is the actress who also plays Cinderella in ‘Into the Woods’ the latest film version – very ‘Disneyfid’ with all kinds of good stuff missing from it – written by Stephen Sondheim. Anyway…

Sondheim also wrote ‘Company’ and this was one of his first hits. I saw this once at the Duke Of York’s theatre in London where it had transferred from the Donmar Warehouse, and it starred Adrian Lester and its design was the inspiration behind the rug in my office, just to bring us back to Symi. But we’re not stopping here as the trail I’m on has sent me off into a side-line as I try and establish if there is one website that lists what shows have been on at what London theatres over the years. A big job I know, but I’d be interested to know exactly when certain shows were running – so I could pinpoint what theatre Up On The Roof was on at. (Turns out it was Theatre Royal Plymouth, transferring to the Donmar Warehouse (to keep the connections going) and then to the Apollo Theatre, London all in 1987.) I’ve not found such a site yet but maybe one day… Anyway…

Where was I? Oh yes, up on the roof taking photos, and here they are. You see, sometimes my ramblings from Symi have nothing to do with Symi at all. I just get on a train of thought, settle down with a pre-packed sandwich and a coffee in a cardboard cup (a Kander an Ebb song from ‘70 girls 70’) that scolds my lip and just watch the scenery go by as my train rattles on into Lalaland. But it will one day pull into a station, but clearly not today. So I will leave you feeling bemused, probably, and head off to do some household chores to the background noise of a diesel generator not far away, a dog barking, and mother watching EastEnders in the sitting room.

Perhaps it is me who is barking.

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Today’s photos are Tuesday Symi morning skies.

“Rhodes, Myconos, Santorini, Paros, Naxos and Skiathos comprise the first batch of Aegean islands that as of Thursday, October 1 will see the waiving of the 30 percent value-added tax discount and, consequently, a series of hikes in the prices of goods and services.” So reports ekathimerini.com

Apparently Symi will lose its tax discount next June. Basically this means that folk selling things in their shops etc. will have to increase the prices to take into account the amount of VAT that gets sent on to the government. They/we have had lower VAT rates in the past so as to help counteract the extra costs of having things, sometimes everything, shipped in. But under the new laws, that’s gunna go and things will cost more than they already do, and Symi is, I hate to say it, already one of the more expensive islands to live on.

It’s also one of the more expensive ones to leave as a friend found out a few years ago. She bought a ticket from Athens (I think it was) to Symi for one price, but when leaving a week or so later that price was more expensive. When she asked the ticket seller why, he explained, in all seriousness, that because Symi is such a beautiful island one has to pay more to leave it behind. Made no sense to her and makes little sense to me now. Sounds like folk trying something on if you ask me.

The other thing I picked up on the wire yesterday was that the refugee charity in Kos has had such a great response to its call for aid that it now has a full warehouse and can’t take any more donations. As far as I know we here on Symi can still cram some more stuff in. We have a mousandra storage area at home that we can use for a little bit more, and I am sure others have. We were there sorting things out on Saturday and there was lots of donated clothes and supplies, but who knows who will be crossing the sea soon, or when we will see 500 refugees per day as we have done? If that changes and we too become stocked up, I’ll let you know. I guess that if we do, the excess will be sent on to other islands who need it.

I also heard that if you tell the UK post office that you’re posting a charity donation they will give you a discount, even without a charity number. My mum sent some stuff and got £9.00 off the cost of the parcel. Worth asking if you are posting.

And, as for me and what I did at school yesterday… No I didn’t go to school, but you know, ‘what I did on my holiday…’ Well, I’m not on holiday, I was working but I did get out at 6.30 in the morning for a steep uphill walk. The first in two weeks and it was remarkably easy. I thought I wouldn’t run as I’d not put any WD40 on my knees yet, but in fact I felt I could quite easily have run back. Maybe the next time I go out I will go past Pat the dog and up to the monastery and see how I get on. I think I could even leave a little earlier as the sun was up but behind the mountain and 6.30 was light enough.

That’s for another day, this is your lot from Sunny Symi today. Don’t worry about the VAT rises, just go head and start planning your Symi trip for next year if you haven’t already. Early indications are that things are going to be busy next year and so you might want to book your favourite accommodation before it gets snaffled by someone else.

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A few things happening around here at the moment: A few more refugees have arrived and are being helped by the port police, the police and Solidarity Symi. A 12 year old girl sent in a large basket of teddy bears for the refugee children, so sweet. Neil also leaped on the port police on Sunday night as we were coming back from a party at Villa Sophia (where Rick Stein made his programme about Venice, or something). Neil didn’t actually leap on the poor unsuspecting guys and girl in uniform, but he did rather take them by surprise…

They were having coffee at Elpida’s before heading out on a patrol, happily minding their own business when this English chappie (Neil) saw them and went dashing in. He basically gave them a verbal handshake and told them how much we all appreciated their work and what they were doing. They were rather surprised but understood the message and he left them glowing slightly with a good feeling. Bravo that man, and those men, and that lady, and thank you to Hillary and Co. for the invite and the party.

Meanwhile, our village/island doctor has retired or is retiring and will be off to Rhodes to spend his retirement with his family. I’m not sure who his replacement is, but there were other doctors around recently and I assume we won’t be without one for any great length of time, if at all. Neil’s off to the surgery today for something so we’ll know more later on.

Other news? Not much, few clouds but not due another storm until next Tuesday though, the day I am thinking of heading to Rhodes to collect my nephew who arrives on Wednesday. Always better to be there ahead of time in case the weather changes. It depends, as it always does, on what forecast you use. One that I look at tells me that Friday is going to be ‘beautiful’ but Saturday will be both sunny and beautiful, though next Tuesday will be merely ‘pleasant.’ October 7^th, on the other hand, is building itself up to have ‘Abundant sunshine’ (I can’t wait for that as, if you change the word ‘abundant’ to another from the thesaurus, we could be in for rich, profuse or, my favourite, lavish sunshine – fab) while on November 5^th will have ‘A thunderstorm in spots.’ I assume that either means some kind of polka dot event in the heavens or very, very small thunderstorms in specific puddles dotted here and there. Who knows?

Anyway, there’s no other news from this desk this morning, so I’ll let you go and get on with something more interesting and wish you a merry Tuesday.

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Out and about on Saturday on Symi, doing things… There were 10 or 12 refugees brought in on Saturday, though while we were at the old post office they were at the port police, but the quiet time gave us, and several other volunteers, time to tidy up and sort out. A large consignment of clothes and donations had come in from several places and people around the world and needed sorting and placing. Some was going to storage in Pedi, while the rest needed to be checked through and organised. Meanwhile, in the background, the Solidarity Symi fundraising campaign reached its latest target of £30,000 which is great news.

I also read this post from the Solidarity Symi team: “One of the refugees who arrived today has advanced MS. When I asked if we could do anything to help, he replied ‘We feel safe. That’s all that matters.’ The quiet dignity of these unexpected guests is profoundly moving.” ‪#‎solidaritysymi

While we were doing our little bit, I found out that I had been in bed with two ladies that very morning and knew nothing about it until they alerted me to the fact. Two of the Saturday volunteers, here on holiday, had been reading this very blog, in bed, that very morning; well, you never know where you’re going to be popping up do you? Later in the morning my mum came to see what we were up to and immediately got stuck in with some cleaning (I’m back in the refugee station now, not still in bed with the ‘Beedle dee, dee dee dee…’ two ladies).

We also met another ‘Beedle dee, dee dee dee…’ two ladies and ended up having drinks and dinner with them later – you meet such interesting people on Symi, including, as it turns out, another writer and blogger. I’m looking forward to sharing more info with you about all this is due course. After our time at the aid station we wandered around the harbour and had what’s become a tradition now, a Saturday lunch. This time we went to see Jordana at To Spitiko and had souvlaki. We took a cab up afterwards so that Neil could get to work on time.

Saturday afternoon rolled on into evening and into Zoi’s where mother treated us all to dinner before we headed back to the village square for some live music. It was rather the ‘battle of the bands’ as Georgio’s was also playing live music and we were at the Rainbow Bar, caught in the middle (with you) as the song says. Sunday morning, I watched the soldiers down in Yialos doing their regular Sunday morning parade, saluting the flag at the war memorial and a-singing of the national anthem (much abridged – the original poem on which it is based has 158 stanzas, usually only the first one or two are sung or in the case of our boys chanted as though they were on their way to Old Trafford.)

Then I watched another cruise ship call in, smoke a-belching, and then… Well, actually, that’s exactly where I am now. The Alarm Cat is at my feet telling me it’s time for his second breakfast so I shall have to go and attend to that. It’s this thing he has about not wanting to eat alone. I suggested, the other day, that we should get a second cat to keep him company in his old age, but the trouble with that is, you end up with two cats and, after this one, we don’t want another, so the idea didn’t go down too well.

And NO, we do not want any cats donated, thank you. This one is turning into a dog already. It’s a bit comical to watch: I get up, let him in, feed him, go to the bathroom and when I come out, he’s there, looking up. We go to the bowl and he carries on eating. I go to the balcony and he trots out and lies down. I go back inside, he gets up and follows, then sits at my feet under the desk, but I’m not stopping there, I’m back to the kitchen to make coffee and he’s with me, flops onto the floor, ‘Are we done yet?’ and then, when I head back to the desk, he follows, this time telling me to settle down! And so it goes on. It’s the only exercise he gets.

Anyway, enough! I’m off to see to Sir-the-cat’s needs and then do some Sunday morning house jobs, like yesterday’s washing up. Here’s wishing you a good week ahead.

PS: If the ‘Beedle dee, dee dee dee…’ confused you, you really need to watch more Liza Minelli films.

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Sea photos and a day trip to Symi

Saturday photos, and today they are all the same view, more or less. The weather has calmed down and got over itself, the cruise ship has been in, the Diagoras has been running, the other boats too, there are lots of yachts about, a whole flotilla has been around and the sea has been calm. So, I’ll leave you with these images and wish you a good weekend.

And here is a video from You Tube showing a day trip to Symi (Yialos and Panormitis as the boat doesn;t stop in Horio) with a feature on Takis and his amazing leather artwork in the middle.

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