There is a character in my recent series of Victorian detective novels who has the ability, through logical thinking, to answer questions before someone asks them. He’ll often meet a client of the detective agency not with a greeting, but with an answer. So, in the style of Will Merrit, here’s the same from me: No, I don’t know what will happen next. There are other answers ready for you too, and the next one is: Yes, he’s fine. Now, here’s what will cause the questions:

The Rainbow Bar in the village has closed. Not just for the winter, but for good. After something like 40 years in the business, Yiannis has officially retired, and the bar won’t be opening again. This has nothing to do with health, that I know of, so yes, he’s fine, and in answer to the net one: We had an inkling, but chose to wait until he told us himself rather than speculate and cause gossip. No, we don’t know what he has planned; a quiet time not working from nine until midnight at the age of seventy-something, I expect. And: He’s not sure, is the answer to what will Neil do for work next year? Apart from being customers in the late 90s, our association with the bar began in 2004, and between us, we have worked there for 22 years. The siesta shift won’t be the same again, and Neil’s four o’clock club that replaced the social gathering point that was our shop’s wine nights, won’t happen in the future. Not there, at least. Who knows? We shall have to wait and see.

I know what will come next too; suggestions, both meant and flippant, so here are the responses to those. No, we will not take it over. Because, for one thing, the rent was around 2K per month, 12 months of the year, and we don’t want to start another business, nor do we have funds to do so. And then: No, I still have no idea what will happen to the building. No, Yiannis doesn’t own it and never has, and, yes, I know you have all manner of helpful ideas about someone revamping and carrying it on, about a younger person taking it on and updating it and making it into this or that, and, again, who knows? Already, in recent years of speculation, the place has been destined to become a hotel, a set of Airbnb apartments, another kafeneion, a piano bar, a taverna, and yes, it would make a great [insert your own idea], but to make that work, you’ll have to come and do it yourself. Oh, and then there are these: He said he didn’t want to suffer endless goodbyes from his loyal regulars, so that’s why he didn’t say anything until it was closed, not even to Neil. Yes, he is very grateful for your custom, and yes, he will miss you too, and no, I can’t pass on your individual thanks and best wishes except in the manner of a class action and say, ‘Everyone wishes you well.’ So, there you are. That’s that, and on we go.

A photo I’ve nicked from Anne (thanks, luv) and which seems to sum up today’s post rather well.

According to Poseidon, god of the sea and weather forecasting, we should now be in for a few dry days. Or we will, when these currently occurring showers have passed, which they are due to do by dawn. So, let’s not dwell on that repetitive subject, and talk about something else.

Yesterday was, for me, a day for staying in, and on my list of things to do was drafting chapter 13 of the first book in a new series. This involved some research into various things such as the depth of the Woolwich foot tunnel, illicit publications available in 1904, and the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union). If you want to know more about where I am going with this project, see today’s other blog through this link: Jackson Marsh. The word ‘cat’ is in the title, so that might draw some Symi fans that way…

Also on the to-do list yesterday was the ordering of some Christmas presents, small trinkets mainly, and several things that ended up being early gifts to myself, because I am a terrible shopper. I jot down gift ideas through the year: a this for him, a that for her, and a non-designated demonstrative pronoun for these who prefer to be a third-person singular gender-neutral pronoun, and then I go and lose the note. So far, it looks like one godson is getting a novelty car air freshener, a friend is in for a bathmat, and I am going to teach myself to draw with an instruction book, and a luxury pencil and drawing set. Oh, and some draught excluder, a mouse mat and a USB adaptor hub.

Meanwhile, as the day passed by beyond the shuttered shutters, I cleaned up the courtyard a little, Neil went foraging at the shops (no chance of the freezers being hacked there, not unless there’s a way of jacking steam-powered cold boxes), and I managed to get some washing dry after three days. A routine winter season day concluded with a couple of films.

It’s very quiet now. I caught a glimpse of one sailing boat coming into the harbour, but the part of the south quay we can see from up here was more or less empty. I’ve not seen a day-trip boat since Sunday, so I reckon their season is finally over, but there are some festival visitors already starting to gather, so there has been some ‘lane action’ with a noisy group coming past yesterday, some in shorts and t-shirts. They were passed by a neighbour and his wife, him driving the moped, and her on the back holding an umbrella, and I was reminded of ‘The Aristocats’ for some reason; it was very Disney.

While out and about, Neil got himself a ticket to Rhodes for the start of his Scotland trip, which starts next week. Gosh, that’s come around fast. I may pop over to Rhodes with him for a day’s shopping, if I haven’t emptied the privy purse by buying Christmas presents for myself online, and if I do go, at least it will give me something else to tell you about. We’ll see.

Today promises to be similar to yesterday, though I hope to be able to get out for a short walk, and we are having drinks with friends at the kafeneion this evening. Gosh. The social clamour of winter has begun.

Today’s reality check is for those who come to Symi, stay in a swanky new Airbnb or quaint, traditional property, a top hotel or a revamped mansion, in search of ‘the authentic Greek experience.’ You want authentic Greek? Then pay us a ridiculous sum per night to stay in our house during the winter season.

Yesterday brought the need for some new investigations. For example, ‘Where’s that coming from?’ when entering the bathroom and getting dripped on, and then noticing water trails on the kitchen wall. Before the investigation could begin, dry towels were needed to soak up the ingress, and they are few and far between at the moment, being otherwise occupied in the porch, lean-to and under the windows. Once the passing deluge had passed, I identified the issue before it returned.

The apothiki above the kitchen has a door, and there’s a gap between it and the step. This was fixed with a fill-in slat of wood plugging the gap, but this had worked loose, and now it’s expanded, and the frame started to rot, so it doesn’t fit; thus, the rain was coming into the storeroom and through the floorboards, which are the kitchen ceiling. On the outside of the door is a ‘step’ created by the original house owner out of some old pieces of railing, a dollop of cement and some wood, long since rotted. Behind this now skeletal arrangement is a plain cement wall, with the edging sealant well crumbled away. Hence, rain works its way inside the storeroom and through the cement wall outside, both directly above the bathroom door. Using all the skills gained from the ‘Home Maintenance Book for Boys (1965)’ of my youth, I found some old piece of heavy pipe, a length of discarded wood, a damp towel and a couple of bin liners, and set about a temporary fix. Rolled towel plugging the door’s gap, piece of wood shoved up against it to hold it in place, and the whole thing wrapped in the bin liners. As for the open cement patch, which needs more skilful attention, the best I could do was cover what remains of the step and hold it down with the heavy pipe. That done, the rain stopped, but the dripping continued until the now soaked internals had bled through, and the lintel will need re-rendering or whatever it’s called when the plaster and paint have bubbled, dried and fallen.

And then, rejoicing in my triumph with a cup of tea in the sitting room, I thought the new deluge had brought hail, until I found a waterfall pouring from front window to shelf to sitting-room floor, at which point, I found myself misquoting Jonathan Harker misquoting Shakespeare in ‘Dracula ’: My towels! quick, my towels! ‘Tis meet that I put them down.
These new Waterworld adventures go on top of the other new one found recently: the pointless but leaking aircon unit in the attic directly over the bed/bedroom below. Another towel lost to home maintenance.

All these things are, in theory, the responsibility of the landlord to fix, but as it took him five weeks to get us back onto hot water after the tank burst, there’s not much point in reporting them. It’s better to get them secretly seen to, even if by myself. Certainly, a lot faster. ‘Yes, I am repairing these things when I do work to the house,’ is not a helpful answer when you’re paddling up your passage, especially because, when he does finally get around to doing this work, we will have to move out. (Then, the rent will become unaffordable, and the house is more likely to be sold anyway, so we’ll be homelessly looking for another place to live, but that’s, hopefully, a story for the distant future.)

So, my authentic Greek experience jobs on this idyllic holiday island for today, weather permitting and after work this morning are: 1) dry all towels, 2) devise a better fix for the apothiki door, 3) ponder how to plug a concrete patch on a wall between door and flat roof, hidden by a cemented-in metal contraption, 3) figure out where the lean-to trickles are coming from 4) check overflows and gutters again, 5) remove dying vine branches, twigs and leaves so they don’t plug things up, 6) discover where aircon leak is coming from (I nearly forget that one), 7) go shopping, 8) stay dry.

And people ask, ‘What do you do in the winter?’

I’m sure I’m not the only one who got woken up at 03.30 this morning by the Greek government. A severe weather warning is in place for, as the announcement pronounced it ‘Rho-ades’, and that, I assume, means us. It wasn’t even raining, though it has been and may be later. It’s been a rather damp weekend all round, and Thursday’s washing is still trying to get dry in the lean-to. We did manage to get out though, in the brief interlude of Saturday afternoon when it was too warm in the sun to wear my Crombie and Austrian felt Hunter, but I did anyway, because there aren’t many days in the year when I can. And the outfit was useful on the way back after dark, least of all because, with the light behind me, it gave me the silhouette of Cary Grant. Obviously, that was only a shadow. Usually, it’s too wet or too warm for such an overcoat, and too hot or too windy for an Austrian felt Hunter, which, contrary to popular belief,sis not a newspaper headline. ‘Austrian Felt Hunter Shock!’ and in smaller letters, ‘Hunter Fires Back.’
Yeah, well, it’s the first time in ages I’ve not wanted to be woken at 03.30, and yet, there we are. I just had a look at my usual weather forecasts, and although they both show rain all day, the wind isn’t too mad, and there’s been no news of cancelled or delayed boats today.

So, what will the day bring? Hopefully, another chapter on the new books after the usual admin work is done. Admin, which includes spamming and deleting around 10 emails asking me if I’d like to discuss my ‘writing journey’ with total strangers who run spurious book clubs and pretend to work for book publishers and agents, who want to invite me to a non-existent book fair in Buttflock Idaho, or appear live on a Zoom to chat about my ‘writing journey’ with six blank screens, and whichever I choose, to pay good money for doing so. What the Hull is a writing journey anyway? I sit down, glower at a blank screen, think of an idea, and write it down. The journey here is a few paces across the hall (old towels down ready for the drips), light on, laptop on, a quick look at my ever-dwindling photo collection, a half an hour wittering this off the top of my head, and then taking a tea break…

But, in more interesting news, this weekend is the annual festival at Panormitis, and although we’re not planning to go, we may end up being taken there by our youngest godson who is coming back from Rho-ades on Wednesday in his car. Now, when did that all happen? He, like his brother, has just spent seven months working flat out through the season, though he got days off, unlike many summer workers. Mind you, on those days off, he went into work to cover as a swimming pool guard, for which the hotel gave full training. It’s going to be great to see this young person who we settled into his own apartment a year ago as a nervous 18-year-old, and whose first priority in life has always been to own and drive a car. He wanted to; he worked for it for a few years, and now, he’s achieved it. He did tell me what breed of car it was, and I think he built a model of it at the kitchen table a couple of years ago, but cars now aren’t what they were ‘in my day.’ At 19, I was driving a Morris Minor, and that had been an upgrade from a Renault 4 with a dashboard gearstick, a front bench seat, and a handbrake you had to pull out from under the dash and hope it never came off in your hand. The Renault 4 used to take hours to struggle up the Dover docks loop (Jubilee Way) and on up the hill to the Deal road, as it was only a 750, but when I upgraded to ‘Doris’, with the headlights operated by a foot pedal and a steering wheel the size of a hula hoop, it came with a huge engine (1,100 cc), and I fair flew along. Zero to sixty in nine minutes was a huge adventure.

And talking of flying along, it’s now 4.07 and I am late for work, so I’d best get on. It looks like we’ll have another couple of rain-bound days at home before the sun is back, but it also looks like it’s going to be fair for the festival weekend, which is good news. Except that good news means I’ll have to take the opportunity to get outside and cut back the vine, clear the courtyard and generally tidy up out there. More admin work, but of a different kind.

Yesterday, after some morning rain, the skies cleared and the sun was back; the temperature outside crept back up to the low 20s, though remains stubbornly lower than that in the house, and in my ‘office’, first thing in the morning in particular. Because of the rain, I’ve had my shutters closed, so when I get to work, usually around 03.30 when it’s dark, I still think it’s nighttime when I emerge for a leg-stretch and tea-refresh a few hours later, only to realise it’s light. Keeping the shutters closed helps keep the cold out, and walking back into the real world takes me from the past (I’m currently in 1904) and back into the present.

Because Neil’s off to visit the grandchildren in a couple of weeks, and because he’ll be in Scotland, some additional and new clothing was called for, and that meant, for reasons of low finance and lower expectations, we popped into Mr Chan’s Emporium of Affordable Delights. This is housed in the building that was once the village social (and, apparently, gambling) club, later a taverna with a good reputation for its chicken with prunes and a back terrace with a view of the telegraph poles all the way to Pedi, and which now sits above the private paediatrician’s surgery. Where we once attended a WI dinner dance and fundraiser, is now full of racks of entertaining clothing in Asian sizes and a cornucopia of plastic items, some of which are of use. At first, I thought there was a sale on because there were four customers in the cavernous shop and the proprietor was bouncing from one to the other like a pinball, enthusing about anything that caught the eye, holding up alternatives and shaking his head when one took a garment from the rail to hold it up for inspection. He has a wonderful eye for one’s honest clothing size, so when you do that thing of saying to yourself, ‘I’ll slim into it,’ he, in a language known to nearly 18% of the world’s population, but to none in the village, tells you by use of ancient Hokkien sign language that you need this size, and he is always right. While I considered a jumper in XXXL size (medium in European sizes), Neil was after a waterproof, and as Mr Chan is also a predictor of weather, there were several loaded racks of them to choose from.

That’s another thing about living in Greece, as it must be in other countries. There’s this tendency for shop assistants to follow you around and offer advice. This is partly to make sure you find what you want and to be on hand if needed, partly to try and sell you something, and hardly at all to make sure you don’t run off with a piece of moulded plastic worth €1,49. Some shop assistants and owners have the persistence of a fly, and others (like me when I worked in a shop in Yialos where I was instructed to stick to browsers like a pop-up advert), stay back and are too polite to interrupt your browsing. We discovered last evening that the proprietor in question not only speaks ancient Wenzhounese but also understands directions given firmly in Anglo Saxon.

The upshot was, a new and rather stylish (for here) waterproof came with us to our next stop, the bar. This one jacket, though, cost more than the top, jeans and joggers Neil bought a few days go. The total then was €32.00 for all three, and yesterday’s bill, €34.00 for one. ‘Never knowingly undersold’ indeed.  The price wasn’t an issue, because he used his tip money from the summer season, and still has a 20c coin left over; unlike the godson who worked at a restaurant and once gained over €70 in tips in one night, barkeeps are awarded less from their customers, but every cent counts these days.

After that, we spent a couple of hours in the bar with two friends, and two televisions showing news, game shows and a variety of alarming advertisements, before heading home along the lane where two out of three streetlights were out, probably due to the recent rain. And here we are, now at 04.18 and the writing day starts again. Back on Monday, but if you’re one of my beloved readers, my author blog will be up on my other blog site tomorrow. Have fun!