Good bye, August!

Looking down at Pedi Bay from Lieni in the afternoon, watching yachts sailing by.  Note the trees dying back and turning brown in the Pedi Valley. The dominant trees are indigenous self-seeded Kermes (Holly) oaks and olives.  The ones showing the die back The large building to the left of the photograph is the power station. The horizontal scar parallel with the head of the bay is the sports field and running track.



As you can see from the motorcar in the foreground, it is the poles that are wonky, not the camera.  The electricity company doing some maintenance in Chorio earlier this week.



And suddenly a new bit of stone wall and a gate have appeared between two houses on the Kali Strata.  It is not clear to which house the gate belongs but presumably both properties have keys as both have doors opening into that lane.



Residents and regular visitors alike have been watching the progress of this particular restoration project over the last few years. The scaffolding is particularly impressive.  The Kastro mound is becoming increasingly wooded and many houses that used to have unobstructed harbour views are now peeping through the trees.  It does help to cool the area, however, and no one is in a hurry to cut down trees on Symi.



A fine example of how to have a pretty garden on Symi, even if you have absolutely no earth and only a tiny scrap of terrace.  A mixture of olive oil and feta cans and plastic pots, all painted the same colour, accommodate a flourishing display of roses, pelargoniums, succulents, herbs and small shrubs.

 

 

The entrance to the courtyard St John's church in Yialos. Since the investiture of the Metropolitan this church now has the status of being Symi's cathedral.  In the days when we still used to have a Symi Festival it was a popular venue for open-air piano recitals and chamber concerts.  Although the church is effectively 19th century, there are oddments of marble and stone from an early temple that was on the same site.



Looking up the Kali Strata. The bright whitewash of early summer is turning scuffed and brown after many months without rain.  Note the fig trees growing out of the windows of the ruin on the right.  Nature's alternative to abundant window boxes.  Figs grow well in the ruins as each of these houses has a big cistern underneath that fills with rain water so even if the house is uninhabited, there is still abundant water until the cistern is dry, by which time the next rains will be on their way.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana