Some of Summer's Pleasures

Plump white and grey rain clouds are hanging low over Greece today and it has been raining intermittently on Symi since the early hours of the morning. Occasional patches of blinding blue break through the general gloom and the harbour sparkles briefly before the next clouds roll in. The long range forecast is rain, rain and more rain, with the possibility of the odd thunderstorm by way of a diversion. Yesterday we had a few dry hours accompanied by a brisk breeze and every villa in Symi erupted with laundry. No balcony or railing was left unfestooned as sheets and jeans fluttered in the wind. Symi’s compact neo-classical houses with their small kitchens rarely have luxuries like tumble driers – after all, in the summer the laundry is crisp on the line in an hour – so drying winter washing is a perennial problem, as regular readers of this diary over the years will have noticed.

The Aegli did not make her scheduled run today and is currently tied up outside Elpida’s. The Dodecanese Seaways catamaran came in on time, however. The vagaries of the winter ferry service are also a frequent theme on these pages over the years – some things never change!

Have a good weekend. I am going to spend mine in the greenhouse, potting on the globe artichokes and planting trays of cherry tomatoes and peppers – it may be mid-winter but some of summer’s pleasures are wrapped up in cheerful seed packets - just add soil, water and sunshine!

Regards,

Adriana