Wednesday and I was feeling pleased with myself.  I finally got round to booking a flight to Greece.  A bit of lateral thinking and I fly to Kos rather than Rhodes.  The flight arrives on Rhodes after the Dodecanese Express has set off on its northward journey to Patmos thereby necessitating an overnight stay in a hotel.  By flying to Kos I can catch it on its way back south and arrive on Symi the same day that I land.  A result!

Thursday evening and I’m chatting with a friend over a curry and a pint and I have a mild panic as it suddenly dawns on me that there are only two weeks before I leave and many things to sort out.  Not least is the garden which is still bedraggled after the winter, the soil too wet and cold to have even thought about planting the potatoes or sowing seed in the vegetable patch.  The day had been fine and sunny and I had continued with the new retaining walls I’m building.  Maybe I should have changed my priorities.

Friday dawned cloudless again for the second day running.  But the pressing need to get on with preparing the garden was eclipsed by  …. watching the eclipse.  Some things just take precedence.  There was a grandstand view from the balcony at the back of the house with perfect conditions for the whole of the 2 hours as the moon crept across the face of the sun and then silently moved away again.  It was only a partial eclipse but still spectacular as the light turned to evening softness and birds landed in the trees.

I took a few photos, not very good, I lack the technical expertise to cope with such extreme contrasts.

Eclipse begins, moon moving from right to left

…. half an hour later

The maximum coverage at 09.30

Starts to move away again

Thin patch of high cloud acts as a filter

x