The almond trees are in full bloom

A great band of grey cloud is draped across Greece, Turkey and the Balkans and even the BBC weather boffins who are usually too busy telling us about sunny pictures in India and downpours in the Philippines to pay much attention to our part of the world, have woken up and are taking gloomy delight in forecasting heavy downpours, sleet, snow and gales for eastern Greece and Turkey. Sounds like fun. Meanwhile a cheery voice on the town tannoy has just announced the power cuts for the next three days. Sigh. While it doesn't really affect me as we aren't on the mains anyway, it is very frustrating for everyone else, not to mention cold. Symi's high ceiling rooms take a lot of effort to heat and cool down very rapidly in an eight hour power cut. As many householders have long since blocked up their chimneys and sealed the old cistern taps and well covers, it is not always possible to reinstate the old ways - lighting open fires and drawing water from cisterns without an electric pump.

On the bright side, all the almond trees are in full bloom, the geese are laying an egg a day (no, they aren't gold!) and the first carrots are up. Purple anemones and white daisies spangle the verges, the barley fields are greening over and a robin has taken up residence in the rose bushes outside our bedroom window. There are hawkers travelling round the islands with truckloads of oranges and tangerines and the big loose-hearted cabbages that grow in warm climates.

And when the power station is switched off, it is amazingly quiet...!

Have a good weekend,

Regards,
Adriana
The Symi Visitor