Birthdays, Cats and Mules
Happy birthday to anyone who has a birthday today. I open with this because there are several people we know who have birthdays today, and our third grandchild is due today too, though I think she might be held up. That gives me a slightly weird segue into the next subject, cat neutering. As you can see from the photo, the bin cats down our way have multiplied somewhat from the one or two of last winter to the several of yesterday. I went to drop the rubbish off and came across this little lot just after someone had been past and left them food and water.
There has been a free neutering programme running, and if you want to know more, you can check their Facebook Page. Symi Neutering Programme – SniP operates out of Pet Island, the island’s pet shop at the bottom of the Kali Strata, and works with larger cat welfare organisations and a veterinary surgery in Rhodes.
You know, yesterday, after dropping the rubbish and chatting to the bin chickens, I headed off to Sotiris supermarket to pick up a few supplies and came across a roadblock. The flower and garden shop was unloading a van in the lane, and there was no way anyone could get past for a while, so I took the long-cut around the back of the old Olive Tree to come out on the other side of the truck, only to be faced with another potential delay…
The mules still work on Symi, delivering to parts other transportation cannot reach, and we often hear them coming past the house, bell tinkling, hooves clomping stoically, and their boss calling ‘Oishi, oishi’ which is a version of ‘oxi’ I guess, but sounds like the Japanese word for delicious. (Or similar, and I picked that up from MasterChef, so it might be wrong.)
Anyway, quick ramble over, I have nothing on my slate today apart from revisions of my next novel, and as it’s not yet six, and I have eleven hours before attending a birthday event, I should get on with it.
