Symi weekend
All quiet on the western front, or rather, the northern Symi front as that’s the way the house faces. This makes for a great view over the harbour, but also for cold days and nights when the wind is from the north. Having said that, yesterday and Saturday were very quiet days weather-wise, with no breeze, calm seas, bright blue skies and a bit of a chill in the air.
We called at the Rainbow bar on our way to a birthday gathering on Saturday night. We sat outside, jackets off, and watched the world go by. There was a large gathering at Georgio’s, either a wedding or baptism party, and the whole taverna was booked out; busier than I have seen it in the summer at times. The birthday party at the Sunrise was good fun, we stayed for a couple of hours and were home by 11.00 for a relatively early night. Sunday dawned bright and clear again and I was at the desk by 7.30 checking up on messages, ordering a few Christmas presents and then preparing this for today.
I know it’s early to talk about Christmas, and I am a firm believer in keeping it in December, calling it ‘Christmas’ and not ‘Holidays’, remembering what it is meant to be about and not putting decorations up until much nearer the time of the celebration. But I am also aware that some folks, like me, like to get gifts arranged and ordered in advance to a) spread the cost out over several weeks or months and b) get organised so there is no last-minute rush. When ordering things online you need to plan a bit further ahead and that’s why we’ve already made our Calendars available – and have been selling them for a while. If you’re looking for something different for someone then there’s a choice of two calendars with Neil’s photos and you can find the links over there on the top of the right column. But you probably already know that…
In other weekend news. The cat has been acting strangely and I think/hope it’s only a tummy bug but if it is it’s a very selective one. Once he sees the bathroom light go on, in the morning, he comes tearing down from the roof, sprints across the courtyard and is at the door before you can say ‘Whiskers.’ He’s then straight into his bowl for his breakfast which he gets down him at a rate of knots. After that he heads to the sofa, makes a fuss about it, telling us that he’s there, rather loudly, and then settles down for the morning. He often gets up and wants to be accompanied to his bowl through the morning where he snacks on biscuits. All fine. But recently, after his lunch (which is usually around 13.00 as he is very consistent), he comes into the sitting room, sits by the fire (if it’s on) for about 15 minutes and then throws his lunch up all over my Turkish rug, or over me if I happen to be having a post-lunch half hour on the sofa. I deal with that (Neil goes gagging to another part of the house a bit like I do when a spider appears) and then the cat settles down again, apparently fine. All very odd.
For those in the know about cats, his other end is fine – I know this as, in his household, I am one of the Grooms of the Royal Stool and so inspect things on a daily basis. No worms, nothing nasty, all as it should be. And the rest of his behaviour is fine too; cleaning, being noisy, eating as regularly/frequently as ever. It’s just the after lunch up-chucking which, for the past few days, has become oddly regular – if you’ll excuse the oxymoron. I am hoping it’s just a bug, but if so, how come it’s only an early afternoon event?
Ah well. While watching the cat and keeping an eye on him health-wise, we shall also, this week, be filling out Neil’s passport application now that everything is here, including things we don’t need. But, as I look down at my diary for the week ahead, that’s all there is in it at the moment, and that’s exactly how winters should be on Symi; blank pages that can be filled with the unexpected day by day. And a bit of cat sick, it seems.
