A quick correction to yesterday’s local news: apparently, Lefteris Kafeneion in Horio opened up again the night before last. (Open mornings and late afternoon/evening.) That came in from Peter, who we’ll be seeing later as there’s a quiz at the Sunrise later today – assuming we can scrape together a few pennies, because for me, pension day isn’t until Monday. (Things that, when you were younger, you couldn’t imagine yourself writing #12.)
There are things to do before then, such as preparing my monthly newsletter, where I highlight books that are on offer and are being promoted by all manner of indie authors. I also add a little of my work-in-progress news and any other updates that don’t make it to my website. That’ll take up an hour or two, and after that… not a lot really.
‘What do you do in the winter?’ It depends on the weather. Recently, it’s been a case of staying in and sheltering from the elements. According to Windfinder, today’s to be calm and dry, but from tomorrow onwards, it’s back to force 7 winds, rain, a wet-south-west wind, and this is going on until around Friday, then starting up again from Tuesday. In the winter, I tend to watch the weather as much as I watch the boat schedule if/when I need to travel. After all, when you live in a rural village that has only three reliable buses per week to take you to the nearest town, you tend to keep an eye on it. The same with boats when you live on an island.
Oh yes, and I’ve also promised myself I will spring clean the bathroom today, the first room in the annual post-winter spring clean, which usually starts around now. A bit early? No, the bathroom is the dampest room in the house, and it will need doing again before summer. I ran the dehumidifier in the house yesterday, just in the background and not in the bathroom, and emptied out a few litres of water during the day. The same happens at night, and it’s hard to air the house when the weather’s bad, because sometimes, you can’t even open the shutters, let alone the windows.
‘What do you do in the winter?’ Then, there’s the courtyard and the plants. Neil’s successfully cut back those that needed it, he’s harvested another tub load of chillies (we have several in the freezer already), and after the brief, harsh cold snap, and then the warm, damp snap, nothing out there seems to know what it’s meant to be doing, and not everything is doing well.
And so, to my admin, networking and newsletter. ‘What do you do in the winter?’ The same as I do in the summer, I go to work, only colder and damper.
