Sunrise
Wednesday 28 May 2014 From Lakki to Partheni
We anchored in a busy bay. Everyone had come in due to forecast of high winds. Thankfully, our anchor held. Not so for another boat on which the couple struggled to find a strong mooring for it. She was on the bow and soaked through with the rain.
Choppy water in Plakouti Bay, near Partheni.
Monday 27 May 2014 From Skala, Astipalaea to Lakki Bay Leros
At Lakki I bought a Greek chip for my Samsung Note. It cost 15 Euros for internet and phone calls. Bob thought he had over-paid the truck driver for diesel at Skala. Two coffees were 6 Euros whereas they are five in Leros and water and a biscuit is included at the marina cafe.
I am inserting photos with each blog post, although I said I wouldn’t. The adverts come up too near the top of the page.
This is the church on the Hora at Skala. It is a working church. I am so impressed with how religious the people in Greece are. We walked to the top. It was a pretty but not easy climb.
Wednesday 28 May 2014 Writing
I have four pieces of writing (works in progress, I should say) on the go, at this time.
First, there is ‘Moon River’, which is the story of how Alana McLean, from Largs took control of her life and moved from the West of Scotland to Turkey. This work began as the final assessment for the Diploma in Creative Writing with the Open University. Today I emailed it to my editor Farhana Sheikh at Dahlia Publishing. Then there is a short story called ‘My Brother Vrinder’ for Farhana’s latest anthology which progressed from using various strategies to promote our own writing output. The group of writers who are contributing worked on Google plus. It was an experiment begun by Farhana.
Third, a short story for an anthology with my e-buddies (from the previously mentioned OU course), one of whom has a blog called cassandra writes. This story is called ‘A Childhood Memory’, and actually came from the strategies for the above group. I have a couple of poems ready for this anthology too.
And fourth, is my sequel to ‘Finding Takri’; the first scene is set at the Memorial to Sikh Soldiers of the First World War which is in Brighton. As I’d told myself I must begin a new book every new year, I wrote this on 1 January.
Excerpts from the above writing to follow ….
Tuesday 27 May 2014 Vathi Bay, Astipalaea, Greece.
An almost enclosed bay as the entrance is very narrow. There is an abandoned brick kiln with an ugly scar on the hillside from where the material for the work was taken. We anchored Peperuka at the north end where there is a small homesteading with a church on the hilltop close by. There was a large herd of goats with very large bells around the adults necks. The herd was moved from one end of the bay to the other along a well-used dirt track. What a racket of jingles and jangles! We couldn’t help smiling while clapping our hands over our ears. I took a video but can’t find it now. From now on I will post no photos until I’ve caught up with where we are. Today is actually the 23 July and we are in Keci Bay, Orhaniye, Turkey.
Palo Stickland 