The weather seems to have a split personality. Begins very warm. Sliding doors open to the patio. Scent of flowers fills the room. (Unfairly, the shrubs overhanging Alexander’s patio next door are in much fuller bloom than ours while Alexander himself is in Russia - but we get to enjoy them in his absence). Lovely walk back after visiting with friends at the Blue Song. Then the wind picks up and gets wildly strong though evening temperatures still close to twenty. A bit eerie once it’s dark listening to odd bits and pieces blowing about. Don’t think there’s much out there other than a couple of small plastic containers swirling around and bumping into the table or the wall but it sounds weird.
This is the beginning of a long weekend as tomorrow is the last day of Ramazan. Sunday should be Eid al-Fitr, most commonly known in Turkish speaking areas as Bayram, Eid being an Arabic term for holiday and Bayram the Turkish, though the word has Persian origins. There is always a little uncertainty on the date as there is at the beginning of Ramazan as the precise moment depends on the official sighting of the new moon. So, like the official first day of spring, it may be a day later in one time zone than in another.
In any case Monday and Tuesday will be civic holidays and the children are off school for ten days. While most shops don’t close for long and supermarkets may not close at all it’s a bit like the time between Christmas and New Year’s in Canada in that some businesses may just shut down for the whole week.Turkish family next door seem to have friends or relatives visiting as they did at this time last year. Much cheery chatter from their garden.