Sunday on Symi, what to do?
After all the excitements of the last couple of weeks (book launches, football tournaments, film award announcements), Sunday came as a bit of a shock. A quiet day with nothing to do. The thing about having nothing to do is that I can never decide what to do, so I end up wandering around doing bits and pieces of nothing. A bit of tidying up there, watering the plants, putting that thing away that’s been sitting there for three months and that only took 30 seconds to do, that kind of thing. I didn’t help that I was up at six, as per usual, so have the whole day ahead with very little to do.
I know, there is plenty to do out there: walking into the hills, around the bays, over to Nimborio, down to Yialos for a look around the shops, a coffee in the square, visit a beach, even take a boat trip now that the Poseidon is running again, but I don’t actually have a whole day spare as I have to sit at the bar in the afternoon while Neil is away. He’s currently at Gatwick, in a hotel, and taking a bus from there in the early afternoon. By the time you read this, he should be in Lincoln.
He is sitting his IGCSE exam today in Newark, and I am sure we all wish him well for that. (Good luck, not that you need it.) Then he’s catching a train back to London to go to the London Greek Film Festival and the premiere of ‘The 13th’ which screens tonight at 21:15 in Camden. So, he’s in for a busy day today (Monday) while I am in for a very quiet one today (Sunday). Don’t you love all this time-slipping? I usually write these posts the day before you read them, that way I don’t have to think about them first thing in the morning. I used to do that but would often end up with a ‘can’t think of anything to say’ post, a bit like today.
So, what am I going to do? Well, but by bit I am working through the list of chores: take rubbish to the bins, feed stray cats, tidy the house, put the clothes away, do some washing, empty the litter tray, see to chopping back some of a fig tree, making something with the mince I bought last night, writing something for the blog tomorrow, oh I am doing that, sweeping the courtyard, cleaning the bathroom, answering some emails, making some notes for a new novel. No wonder there’s no time to get to the beach. Mind you, if I did go to a beach, I wouldn’t know what to do when I got there. Sweep the sand, polish the rocks, even up the sunbeds, I don’t know. I can’t sit still for very long, which makes a ‘day off’ a very tiresome business.
Perhaps I’ll do some more work on a sequel for ‘The Saddling.’ I know, the first one is only just out and you may not have had a chance to read it yet, but it’s getting good reviews already, and the feedback is very positive. A lot of ‘best yet’ and ‘hard to put down’ comments coming in from some nice people and some complete strangers who I am sure are also very nice. I have an idea for the next one. Whereas The Saddling is about water (in a certain way, as you will see when you read it) I think the next one (tentatively called ‘The Witchling’) will be about fire. That could suggest two more, earth and air, should the response be good. I have a rough idea for a plot to get me going, many of the same characters will be there and develop, there will be some new ones, and the main themes of family-history-mystery, rural myths, Romney Marsh and self-discovery will also be there.
If I can’t get on with that this morning, then I still have pages of ‘Symi Stuff & Nonsense’ to prepare as I’d like to get that out for you later in the year. More Symi ramblings, some developed from these blog posts, others that are about travel to other places, some word play and other, well, stuff and nonsense really. The first draft is complete, I just need to be in the right mood to second draft it and make it better. Hm. I think I may have finally talked, or written, rather, myself into getting on with that this morning. I’d better go and make a start.
