It’s not often I go to look at a ladies’ clothing website, but mother sent me a note the other day saying that she had had Symi popped through her door. This came in the shape of a magazine called Toast and some of it contained a fashion shoot with Symi in the background. I tracked down a couple of images at their website, in what they call their ‘lookbook.’ Here’s the link: https://www.toa.st/content/lookbook/women/ss15/spring.htm I think they were going for ‘textures’ there. (Some of the photos are not Symi, but you might like to see them anyway.)

Meanwhile, I had a very strange experience last night which involved the village post office and a lot of paperwork. Of course, we don’t have a village post office and that was the point of the dream; it was opening tomorrow and I was going to run it. I was actually taking over from a retiring couple who hadn’t shown me anything, so I was watching them on the afternoon before the big handover, to see where the tin was that served as a till, to discover what books they kept (many and completely out or order and with no system at all) and to try and learn a few tricks. I took a break to tell my brother (who does work for the post office, when not saving lives at sea) and he was particularly sympathetic, and then local people, who I didn’t know, came in and started sticking their orders to the telegraph pole behind the desk, which ended up looking like the till at Sotiris’ super-market, with I.O.Us taped all over it.

In the end I ordered a book with pages in alphabetical order and advertised for an assistant who spoke Greek. It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand the language (some of the notes I was receiving were not very pleasant) it was that the customers were not speaking any language I’d ever heard before. Eventually I was woken up by the sound of a choir singing a cheery ‘good morning’ on my tablet.

I am sure dream-watchers will have a field day with that one. Needless to say I was very relieved to wake up and realise I was not about to start working nine to five (it would have been eight to two, in reality + extra hours I am sure, even if just for sifting Sports Direct orders) in another ,language.

So thrilled that I went of a walk to Pedi at 6.30 this morning; well, a kind of jog downhill and a walk back up. I went down past the hotels and along the ‘soapy steps’ where, even at that time, someone had emptied their soapy waste all down them. There’s a big new house, or two, going up on the right of the road, going down, the chickens were nowhere to be seen, but there are lots of sheep about. The air was pungent with that rural pre-Easter smell of nervous farm animal, the sea was calm, and a thin veil of high, grey cloud masked the sun that is now, as I write, well and truly awake.

I bet it didn’t dream of having to tell local people that their pensions had been cut in half.

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Well, it was a lovely weekend, and we had a marvellous party. The whole thing started off on the right foot when we went shopping on Saturday morning. Just staggering back with bags and packs of water when Yianni (Rainbow) called us in to the taverna (Georgio’s) for a glass of wine with the lads (Manolis and Alexis). A chat about the new house, some mezethes and half a litre of wine later and it was home for breakfast.

We like this neighbourhood.

After that it was like sailing downhill; getting the house ready, pottering about, putting the last things up in the storage area above the bedroom, putting up a few more things on walls and then getting dinner ready for the godboys. Sam and Harry came on Saturday evening and we all sat around the table in the kitchen and had something of a feast. Cheese saganaki, chops and mash with homemade beans, ice creams and a couple of DVDs for the boys while we played cards with their mum and laughed a lot.

Sunday was also a great day with not much to do in the morning and guests for the housewarming party in the afternoon. That went off really well, and a big thank you to everyone who came, British, Greek, Lithuanian, American, South African, Dutch, everyone! The house is now well and truly warmed, and still in one piece. Even Jack coped well with it all, and with the amount of people in his courtyard. He finally made it out of the courtyard, as the gates were open, and went exploring out along the road. I saw him down beneath the house at one point and later we found him up to no good with some new mates over the road.

After the party we headed off to the taverna again as we’d not planned anything for tea, and had… chop and chips, for a change (with salad this time). And then, on the way home, we came across a very strange thing left lying around the square. Well, outside Lefteris’ kafeneion. It’s some kind of buoy I think, or a large fishing float, or… well, you’ll know what it is, I just don’t now it’s official name. Stephen, I think. I assume it fell out of someone’s pocket when they were having a drink.

And so on to the week ahead. No parties, no dinners, nothing getting in the way of early nights and early mornings. Something I have been getting used to with the more than usually noisy alarm cat and his 4.30 a.m. antics. At that hour he’s usually outside screaming to come in, then when you drag yourself out of bed and let him in, he doesn’t want what you’ve offered for breakfast so goes and sleeps on the sofa. Just when you think it’s safe to go back to bed he’s up and about again and threatening to wake the rest of the neighbourhood, so you end up sitting up with him and going to work at five. Or six, as was the case this morning. Ah well. Yawn.

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Happy birthday Sarah! (Will try and ring you later.)

But first: Strange behaviour from the Blue Star ferry yesterday, at least it looked odd from up here.

The boat came in around 09.00 and I thought I’d get a shot of it while also watching it on Marine Traffic, not that I was bored or anything. It’s something I have meant to do for a while; an excuse to show you the shipping site which you might find useful if and when you’re next heading to Symi, or anywhere really. As long as you are going by boat. No point looking at it to see if your plane is on time.

So, I noticed the boat was coming in and slowing down, though the traffic site showed it still out a way – it doesn’t appear to get in any closer than that on this site, not for Symi anyway. I noticed that the coastguard boat (navy boat) was out in Nimos Sound, out of the way, ready for the Blue Star to come in. Nothing out of the ordinary there. But then the Blue Star started coming in sideways which I’ve not seen happen on a calm day before.

Apparently it is, or was, missing its back thrusters which is why it couldn’t dock the other week in high seas and hard weather, maybe that’s why it slid in sideways yesterday. Anyway, it was a bit odd and then it stayed around of half an hour. And then it left really slowly as well. At one point I thought it had forgotten something and couldn’t remember what. It kind of hung there off the clock tower a little way out and paused. Perhaps the captain had nipped off to make a brew and no one wanted to head on out until he got back. It did eventually leave and headed off to Rhodes.

There, not a thrilling story but better than nothing. And, writing ‘Nimos Sound’ made me head to the map to see if the bay actually has a formal name as I just made up Nimos Sound for the stretch of water between Symi and Nimos. Apparently, according to the maps it’s just called Symi Bay, but I did notice something interesting while map-browsing. The bay on the south of Diapori, the headland that nearly touches Nimos (Diapori being the shallow channel between the two) has a name: Kokkinochoma Bay.

This sent me to my dictionary to check up on something and that gave me the unsurprising answer I was expecting. The question was, ‘what does Kokkinochoma’ mean? The answer I expected, and the correct answer as it turned out, is: Red soil (earth, dust or ground). Κόκκινο χώμα as two words. And that becomes obvious when you look over there and see the colour of the rocks. Red.

So, there you go. A Saturday morning piece of non-information and a couple of new words to put in your vocabulary. Have a good weekend! (PS, me rug was intentional.)

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We had a very pleasant day at home yesterday, with a lunch guest and then an evening in. We stood out on the balcony and watched the Blue Star call in, much to the relief of many I expect, and saw loads of cars and trucks coming off.

Wednesday is, in the summer at least, a popular shopping day. Many people who are not working head over to Rhodes on the morning ferry, wiz around the likes of Jumbo and Carrefour and other places where stack ‘em high, sell ‘em low prices can be found and then head back again on the afternoon boot. Often, when working at the bar, I see Jumbo bags going past at around 4.30 in the afternoon, or just after. And it looks like, what with the good weather yesterday, the same thing was happening.

This morning we went out for a brisk walk again, and again up the road from Kampos to Periotisa and then back down through and around the village. Soon we’ll start adding more distance or faster speed, but after a break of a few weeks it’s a case of siga siga.

We see a lot of council workers at that time of the morning. At the moment, around 6.30 seems to be the time for emptying the bins so today we saw the truck collecting the skip at Kampos and then heading up the hill. At the bend in the road further up we found the small dust cart (that comes to Elemonitisa) unloading into the larger dustcart, that collects at Pedi and other places, and then when almost home, we saw the same guys emptying our local bins.

We also had the strange affair of the door opening in the night last night. I am sure that when our guest left yesterday I shut the courtyard doors, and checked them as they don’t always fall onto the latch. We didn’t go out again afterwards but when I went out this morning the gate was open. Luckily Jack hadn’t run off into the road – not that it’s a fast road – he was still up on the roof where he had been fighting and shouting. So I wonder if someone came past early in the morning and heard his wailing and shouting, fighting and ‘alarming’ and thought there was a cat locked inside and in trouble, so opened the gate to let him out. Could have been someone come to try and shut him up as he is still pretty loud around five or five thirty when he thinks it’s time to come in. Will have to keep an eye on that one.

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