To end the week, some photos. As I was coming back from a short walk yesterday, I noticed the rising sun in this tree up the road, and it looked spectacular. More so than it looks in this photo. I cropped it and still it doesn’t look as spectacular as it did at the time. Hey ho!

I also offer you some other random shots taken during the last week, a week which has seen the temperature drop to more rational levels, and a week that’s not yet ended. We are out to dinner at the Taj Mahal with our boys tomorrow night, there is live music in the usual places over the weekend, including Scena on Saturday, the Secret Garden tonight (I assume), and in the village square on Sunday. Before that, my job today is to order a Symi Dream calendar for 2025 before I forget. Here’s the link so you don’t forget:

And now, a few photos, and I’m off to work.

Share on Facebook

There used to be a British TV show called ‘Sale of the Century’ (I can still hear the theme tune and the ‘Live from Norwich’ announcement), but these days, I appear to be having a ‘Sale of the Month.’ Yes, it’s that time of the month again when I seek your assistance in gaining me some kudos simply by clicking a link or two. In this case, there are three to choose from. These are book promotions I get involved with in order to sell a few more copies. As I write historical mysteries, there are a fair few mystery/thriller promotions to play along with, but I also put some other books in other promos too.

How it works: All you have to do is click on one or more of the promo pages where you can browse the covers and click them to read the book blurbs. If you like the look of a title, you can then go ahead and buy it or add it to your Kindle Unlimited collection. None of the above incurs any cost or leads to any dodgy adverts or anything, but the more clicks my links generate, the more ‘points’ I get in the club, so the more promos I can join in with, thus, the more books I can put out there. So, if you have nothing better to do today, click a couple of the banners below, and everyone’s a winner. You may even pick up a few new titles to read, or discover a new author.

Kindle Unlimited mysteries and thrillers

Mystery, Thriller and Suspense novels

Darker suspense novels

Normal Symi chat activity will resume tomorrow. Meanwhile, here’s a cloud as seen from the Kastro…

Share on Facebook

We were down in Yialos yesterday to meet friends we met in Canada in 2020 who were meant to come over on the Sebeco, but it was cancelled, so we’ll have to wait until next year to see them on their next trip to Rhodes. Still, we had lunch with our departing family who left on the 16.30 Panagia, and that did come as go as planned. Another lovely lunch at Trata, then home for Neil to prepare for work, which at the moment includes putting on a jumper or a hoodie. This morning has started calm, as did yesterday, but I think, unlike yesterday, the wind is forecast to remain mild today.

Things didn’t look so busy yesterday, mainly because there were few or no daytrip boats running. The taxi boats and other excursion boats didn’t go out either, but some stalwart regulars managed to get in some beach time no doubt. We started off up in the village where the wind was wild, and headed down with our extra layers on, but the difference between pano and kato was marked, and Yialos was warm. It was sheltered, I guess, and without the wind, it was a lovely day down there. Normal service will soon be resumed.

Share on Facebook

Our niece and her husband have been on the island for the past few days, and yesterday evening, we all walked up to the top of the Kastro to take in the view. It was a little windy up there, as it was everywhere, and as the wind was from the north and west, the temperature dropped. It’s that time of year when it’s winter up top with hoodies and jumpers on, and summer below where you’re still wearing shorts. Still, the walk was lovely, as was the early evening view, as was dinner at Taverna Zoi afterwards.

In the afternoon, my godson came for his piano lesson, and after, as has become our habit in the summer, we stood on the balcony watching the boats and discussing… well, it’s whatever comes along. Boats, yes, but yesterday, also the strange light I and now he and everyone who works at the Kali Strata Restaurant see over Turkey. It looks like it’s over Nimos, but it’s further away, I’ve noticed it over the past few years, and it’s always the same. Only the time of night changes as this very bright, static light appears well above the mountain ridge, therefore, in the sky, stays there, and gradually fades out. Odd. We discussed in what direction it lay, which then resulted in a lesson in basic navigation and how to use a compass – as much as I could remember at any rate. There was also a discussion about how binoculars work, but sadly, I wasn’t able to answer all the questions. For example, why, when you look through a magnifying glass held at a distance, does everything turn upside down? I suggested asking a physics teacher, but at the technical school right now they’re lucky to have any kind of teacher; they’re short of teachers for maths, language and English. Terrible, if you ask me.

Boat activity yesterday.

The evening finished off with news about what’s happening with our rented house. It looks like we are safe for another year continuing as we are, and then the new owner will reexamine the contract. Whatever that means. I may discover more when I see the new contract and go over to Rhodes to sign it. Meanwhile, it’s back to work this morning, followed by meeting friends on a day trip for lunch, saying farewell to the family, and, hopefully, returning to something approaching autumnal normality.

Share on Facebook

I’d forgotten about this annual ceremony, The Procession of the Pitsos. Actually, I don’t know what make of fridge it was that was being carried out of the taverna the other day. Hopefully, it was on its way to a better place. Or maybe I should say a ‘different’ place, in case someone sensitive thinks I mean the taverna isn’t a good place, and gets offended. The last thing I want to do is cause offence or be a trigger. In my day, Trigger was a horse, not an excuse to become terminally insulted by the slightest thing, and being offended was a rare event. Now, it seems, it’s an acceptable way of drawing attention to yourself, and by declaring yourself offended, you garner the sympathy of the world around you, or at least, hope to.

Get over it. It’s a fridge leaving on its last journey having housed wine and water for a hundred years, and it will probably end up in the landfill dump like everything else that gets thrown away around here. The other day, someone asked where on the island they could find a recycling point. As much as we applauded their intentions and naïveté, we had to shake heads and declare there was no such thing. Not since that mayoral election when Harry was still in junior school and the kids enthusiastically got together and geared up for recycling because special bins and collection points had appeared, only to vanish again a couple of weeks after voting. Perhaps if we had recycling activity that the young people could become involved in, there would be less of this.

I don’t mean the shop that’s locally known as ‘Mr Chan’s Chinese Emporium of all things cheap and cheerful.’ (The €8.00 shower head with internal turbo fan is a must have – it’s so powerful and uses a lot less water, but that’s a story for another rambling post.) Actually, I like that wall. It’s somewhere the youff of the village can express itself while waiting for its six-year-old best mate to finish selling cigarettes and come out to ride up and down on noisy motorbikes as a way of celebrating their 14th birthdays. There is some very choice philosophy on that wall if you look closely and translate, some rather anatomically incorrect genitalia, and a few hopeful yet somehow tragic love messages between eleven year olds. I think it’s a village feature and should have Perspex placed over it to preserve it, but then again, I’m still only half awake and it’s Monday morning.

Anyway, we’re expecting high winds today and tomorrow, though it’s still warm, and that’s the news for now.

Share on Facebook