After a visit from Neil’s brother James for a few days, things return to the normal summer season pace: Neil works in the shop in the mornings as I beaver away at home on various writing projects. We exchange hellos at two as he comes in and I go out to sit at the bar for a couple of hours and serve the occasional drink. We have an hour or so in the square in the late afternoon before the shop is open again when I either sit and sip ouzo on the steps and chat to passing folk or go home and cook/write some more. And so the days go on.

But sometimes we have the odd break in routine as you can read about in this month’s village view…

Meanwhile the gallery above the shop is changed as an exhibition is held: 20 artists from six different countries are exhibiting their work and there is an opening evening with wine and many visitors. There is a wide range of work on display from paintings to sculpture and the exhibition is well received.

I was in the harbour one afternoon when the new-ish traffic control system came into effect. (Otherwise known as a man with a chain pulled across the road.) It seems that someone wanted to come through after the traffic control/chain came into effect at midday. After a few minutes of stand off during which time the aggrieved driver held up all other traffic wanting to get into the harbour (not that it could anyway) the police were called and a lengthily discussion took pace. The situation was resolved after about half an hour and the first driver was allowed to drive his truck around to meet the boat that was due in – for which he had deliveries.

Now we all like to think the traffic control is a good thing – particularly at tourist times of the day. But it has to be supported by the ferries and boats coming in. There’s no point in having a cargo carrying ferry coming in on the clock tower side of the harbour during the traffic control hours – as was happening above – if the delivery and collection trucks can’t get to it. Why don’t they put in on the other side, on the right side of the ‘chain’ and put the tourist boats (without cargo) on the restricted side? It’s all Greek to me but it does make for interesting viewing when having a lunch time beer with friends.

More refugees have been arriving on the island in dangerous boats – and these folk are the lucky ones who make it to land. In response to a request from the police for ‘food, clothing, cigarettes and other essential supplies’ (cigarettes?) we donated two well filled bin-bags of clothes, via Michaelis and our local church. So even if the refugees/illegal immigrants don’t get much to eat or smoke they can look good in fake designer clothes from Turkey that never fitted us in the first place and we can feel like we’ve done our bit.

In the second part of the month the temperature started to rise further and the festival started proper with a performance by the composer Thanos Mikroutsikos and co. We sat at Rachael’s pizza place and had a great view of the stage. Neil took pics and then we wandered home again to be in time to see the fireworks from the comfort of our terrace. Apparently this year they were set off from the plot of land adjacent to the petrol station in Yialos. Makes sense to me, fireworks – petrol tanks…

We were lucky not to have a fire as so many other places in the country (and others) have suffered. On the news last week they counted 120 individual forest or brush fires on one channel while it was 190 on the other. Whole villages in the north have gone though luckily the death toll (in Greece) is still relatively low. I saw the prime minister on the news telling a fireman training centre that all the trees that have been destroyed around Athens (and other places) will be replanted one for one, which is a start. Apparently the fires around the capital have wiped out so many trees the effect is the same as putting one million cars onto the streets of Athens – in terms of pollution and air quality. Oh boy!

But while Europe burns we sweat as the temperature stays around the high 30’s early 40’s and there is no wind. Everyone greets each other with ‘how are you?’ ‘hot’, except for Manolis the waiter who insists that it is still funny, after three weeks, to say ‘cold today.’

Oh – we have started the Symi Fringe Festival all on our own. While our old friend and my old cabaret partner, Kinny, was staying we had a small soiree for a few friends. I cranked up the piano and Kinny entertained us with some vocal fireworks that, in the forte sections, rattled the roof tiles and blew the curtains out. I am still receiving congratulatory messages from Pedi, Rhodes old town and part of Turkey.

And to finish the month Neil had made an appearance on Greek TV. Menoume Ellada, my favourite TV programme, was filming in Symi; they feature different places in every show – it’s like a travel show that’s on every day. I watched as Lefteris the harbour master was interviewed followed by Costas the historian and book shop owner, Mercuris and then Dimitris the architect. Then the presenter carried on up the Kali Strata and… ops, Neil appeared on the balcony above the shop, looked around and went back in again.

I think it’s what they call a ‘cameo’ role.