Dalyan – 31st October

Captain Caveman and I were on the list for Riverbums on Thursday 31st October and we were to be at the Kefal Tea Gardens, ready to depart at 10am. I had my cup of tea in bed then overnight oats once I got up for my breakfast. It was getting a little cooler now in the mornings but it was still ok to wear shorts, a t-shirt and plastic porter sandals for Bumming in. This time, we were on time and the electric Riverbums boat was ready for us. We went to the Dalko site and surrounding areas and, although we did collect some rubbish, it was nowhere near as bad as it used to be a few years ago. A diver who was checking on the fish there was very welcoming and friendly which was also good to see.

Back home, both of us needed a shower but Captain Caveman said he would cook lunch as I would take longer and I had to check my work emails. Unfortunately, Captain Caveman had put the oven on the high setting because he believed the oven here didn’t work (it does). I explained that he should turn it down or the food would burn, or to leave the pizza wraps in for less time. Of course, Captain Caveman disregarded my opinion, as is usual, and kept it as it was while putting my pizza in first. Mine had mushrooms on and he doesn’t eat them, his had different toppings. Even when I said I could smell burning at 2.30pm I was ignored and my lunch was cremated. I got the scissors out and cut off all the burned bits while Captain Caveman turned down the oven, adjusted the timer and made himself a perfectly cooked pizza. I think pizza wraps for lunch after Bumming was a no-no for future reference and I’d stick to soup or a sandwich.
I was getting impatient about still not having had any call or message that my new residency card was on its way, so I went online to check. It said ‘record not found’, which wasn’t useful, Jamie’s friend’s daughter had her residency renewal appointment 2 weeks after mine and already had her new card but it is Turkey and there is no logic to these things. I got on with some more quotes for work and had a couple of general enquiries for South East Asia for 2025. I also scheduled some social media posts for the rest of the week and saved a post from EasyJet which detailed when all the UK bank holidays are. This was good for people with regular Monday to Friday jobs to work out how to have longer holidays, while using the least amount of holidays. Clever!
I was peckish before dinner so had some peanuts and a green tea. Then, by chance, got a text to say my residency card was on its way!
I made chicken & leek bake using quark, thyme and cheese spread which we had with roast potatoes and red cabbage. It turned out really tasty and was syn free using the Healthy A for the cheese. Captain Caveman helped with the potatoes and was having a whiskey with his dinner so I had one too.

Dalyan – 30th October

Captain Caveman had decided to go for a reccy for his Sunday Walks on Wednesday 30th October. I’d like to have thought that he had taken the hint that he was cheesing me off by lolling about playing Bridge in a horizontal fashion, but I doubt it! After my cup of tea in bed, I took my measurements and got on the home scales. My bust had stayed the same, my waist was now -1cm beneath my target but my hips had put on 2cm. The home scales showed that I had lost 1.2kg (2.6lb) since last week which was really good news but I know, recently, Carol’s scales at Fat Club had not been as kind.
I made myself a vegetarian pho for breakfast then did my Turkish homework before I had to go to the lesson at 11.30am. This week we were having the lesson at Ela’s Kitchen but we didn’t know until last minute that Lukka had closed. The smell of the breakfasts was amazing and I wanted to get a nice cup of Yorkshire tea but I hadn’t taken enough money with me – I’d know for the next time! Instead I had a soda water. I like it at Ela’s for having a Turkish lesson as it is easier to hear Sioned, our teacher, as it’s a quiet spot.

I did a quick bit of work and ate a banana before it was time to go to Fat Club at lunch. As expected, Carol’s scales were not as kind. I had lost only 0.8kg (1.7lb) but it was still a loss and I was pleased. Captain Caveman had not yet joined the Fat Club but he was certainly following the plan for meals. He’d only lost 100g this week but 2kg over the last 3 weeks. It was a little disconcerting that he had lost 0.5kg more than me in 3 weeks without trying. I didn’t stay long at the group today as I had a video call booked in with the Resort Experts Sales Manager at 4pm, but I did quickly call in to the supermarket as we needed some cheese. Here’s what I ended up buying as a bit of a treat, prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
1 Bounty chocolate bar 34.90
Cheddar cheese 139.95
2 x 400g 7% fat beef mince 479.90
Total spent 654.75 lira (£14.75)

I’d gone a bit mad buying mince but it’s not too often that they have the lower fat one and I had suggested my parents come round for dinner one night, when they were available. Today they had gone to Ortaca and they were going to Babadağ either tomorrow or Friday, so maybe at the weekend. They were going to let me know when they had a free evening as their social calendar was pretty full.
My video call went well and the Sales Manager is loads of fun plus he knows what he is doing. He lives in Benidorm and has been there for over 30 years, which was good to know for any of my friends and potential customers who fancied a bit of Costa Blanca.
The team meeting was at 8pm that night, too, so I was very busy today. Captain Caveman came home, asked how I had done at Fat Club and told me he was taking me out for a glass of wine (with cheese) at Retro bar. It’s only round the corner from us and was closing for the winter this weekend. I grabbed a fleece, as the evenings were getting cooler, and off we popped. Retro Bar was really lovely and the wine and cheese went down well at only 100 lira (£2.25) each. We rushed back for the team meeting only for me to have got the time wrong as the UK and Spain had put their clocks back at the weekend, while Turkey keeps them the same all year. We could have had another drink at Retro, but at least I was home and we were only having leftover curry and saag aloo for dinner with steamed rice.

Dalyan – 29th October

I was working from my bed with a cup of tea before 8am on Tuesday 29th October, while Captain Caveman made himself breakfast and got ready for his morning of Bridge Club. I read that Vietnam Airlines had launched a non-stop flight between Hanoi, Vietnam, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and would run on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. This was good news and I added it to my list of itinerary options for future trips. I also put a post on my Resort Experts Facebook page of me on a swing in the sea while in Koh Rong Samloem, Cambodia. For breakfast I had cheese and olives with a green tea (no bread today as it was weigh day again tomorrow).
Despite all the rubbish going on and having a partner who’s main focus was being the world’s best Bridge player, I had decided to keep focused and remain positive. There was nothing I could do to change anyone else and it would take too much energy and time that I didn’t have spare. I decided I was just going to focus on myself and let everyone else around me get on with whatever they were doing. If not, I was going to drive myself mad.
Around midday, I decided to pop to the pharmacy and shops for a bit of fresh air and a few essentials. Here’s what I bought with the prices in lira;

Pharmacy
1 box of Cerazette pills 329.18 lira (£7.38)

I thought the price for one month’s contraceptive pills was higher than it should be!

Migros Supermarket
Dido Chocolate bar 16.50
Diet Coke 30.00
Fanta orange 30.00
Tonic 45.00
Spinach 46.95
1kg chicken breast 170.50
Total spent 338.86 lira (£7.60)

I love those Dido chocolate bars and didn’t even get one on sale this time!
When Captain Caveman got back from Bridge he made a pasta dish for lunch which was probably only about 3 syns, as it had sucuk in. I worked in the afternoon and then made dinner. I did a Slimming World Roast Potato Saag Aloo, which was very nice and went well with the chicken curry and steamed rice. I ended the week on 194 syns, which was 72 less than last week’s and half of it was for alcohol, so I was hopeful for a loss tomorrow.

Dalyan – 28th October

On Monday 28th October I was up early and the sun was shining. While Captain Caveman went Dogging, I had work and errands to do. My first task was to go to the bank and make sure I had put in my 26,000 lira (or more) to keep up my residency requirements. I also needed to draw out some cash as it was time to pay for my Captainnet (internet) again, but still without my new residency card. My parents were off on the yellow boat again with other Dalyan Dwellers for the weekly Köyceğiz trip. They often go to Tuana, a bar/restaurant on the water front, for drinks and lunch. At Captainnet I usually deal with the lady who works there but this time there was a new man and he refused to let me extend the internet without a valid residency card, at first. I showed him my official piece of paper that said I had renewed and he made 2 phone calls. Today was Republic Day (Cumhuriyet Bayram) in Turkey, so I told him I would need to have the internet because of the special day – perhaps the Turks would not be able to acknowledge today without the internet so I hoped that would work. He took another 10 minutes of over-mauling my paper with his grubby hands and then agreed, saying I needed to come back as soon as I received the card. Of course, I agreed, paid him the 400 lira (£8.99) for the month, then went to Migros for some essentials – here’s what I bought, with prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Green tea 23.00
Chickpeas 33.95
15 eggs 72.50
1.4kg sweet potatoes 94.91
Total spent 224.26 lira (£5.04)

Back home, I made banana, oat and egg pancake for breakfast but the banana was too unripe still and I could only eat half of it before the rest had to go in the bin.
At noon I had a meeting with my boss which went well and I was now part of the Resort Experts team.

When Captain Caveman got home from Dogging we had leek & potato soup for lunch followed by some peanuts in the afternoon. I had a couple of friends respond to my Resort Experts post to ask for quotes so I spent the afternoon on Crete, Portugal and the Canaries for 2025 holidays. Captain Caveman warmed up left over Chicken Provençal and made sweet potato and normal potato wedges in the air fryer to go with it, for dinner.
In the evening, we watched something on Youtube as we couldn’t get the Netflix to work on the TV and it was too late to get a code from the guy who is in charge of it. I can’t recall what we watched but I know that Captain Caveman was fast asleep and snoring well before the end.

Dalyan – 27th October

The alarm went off early and Captain Caveman went to make me a cup of tea on the morning of Sunday 27th October. The Sunday Walk was planned and the weather looked good. This time, Captain Caveman had made the walk so that it had a deliberate short cut in it for the slowies like me, Ma & Pa. I put in all the ingredients for a Chicken Provençal in the slow cooker and had a banana before I set off, this time. This week we had quite a few people join the walk and it was a good one going to Gunlüklü restaurant and back in a loop. For me, 10km is about my limit and my legs ached. At the end, there were just the 3 of us, me & my parents, but even they were off to the Kefal Tea Gardens via their house so left me just after the market road.
I called at the bakery for bread, then went home to prepare our lunch which was leek and potato soup.

In the afternoon, while Captain Caveman did the laundry and played Bridge on his phone, I did some work. I had a couple of friends who had mentioned Bali to me this week so I was doing a bit of research on the best places to go and what itineraries looked good.
For dinner we had some of the Chicken Provençal which Captain Caveman cooked the potato wedges with, while I was absorbed in Bali. The meal was really nice but we had no time to waste as we were due to go out.
My parents had invited us over for drinks, which was really nice of them. At my parents’ we had some wine, my Mom drank just a couple of beers as she was taking it steady and didn’t want to drink too much. Captain Caveman and Dad made up for it. Mom also had nibbles with cheese and biscuits which were very nice and terribly moreish. I had to remind Captain Caveman to stop shovelling it in like he’d never been fed. Mom even had to get out more cheese and crackers! We had taken wine round but Dad also opened some really nice wine from Cappadocia which was great. It was good to spend time with my parents as they were leaving in 3 weeks and I had no idea when I would see them after that.

Dalyan – 25th & 26th October

I had a very productive Friday 25th October, I had an early breakfast of tea and overnight oats before starting work at 9am. I did lots of training and I added more to my growing To Do list. Captain Caveman was at Bridge Club and had left about 9.45am, he came back at 1pm for lunch but I was still working so I asked him to make our meal. He made some really tasty chicken fajita wraps which I ate at 1.30pm then went back to some more training at 2pm.
Captain Caveman seemed ill with his constant sneezing and blowing his nose and was snappy with me so I suggested he actually did have some rest in bed to sleep it off. I had to remind him that he was not going to bed so that he could play Bridge on his phone all afternoon.
I had scheduled in to my diary to work until 4pm but my Mom was available for me to pop round. We’d mentioned about having an evening together soon and I asked what plans they had for the weekend. They had been invited to one of our friend’s houses for cheese and wine tomorrow night so we suggested Sunday evening would be good for Captain Caveman and I, if they didn’t get a better offer!
I went to the shops as we needed Quark and tinned tomatoes. Word from the Fat Club group had let me know they had some in stock. Here’s what I bought and the prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Milk 28.25
2 tins of tomatoes 59.90
2 Quark 59.90
632g Chicken thighs 132.72
Total spent 280.77 lira (£6.32)

When I got home, Captain Caveman was on the sofa, playing Bridge and still very sneezy. We both agreed I should have bought more tomatoes while they were in stock and I toddled back off, while he went to bed.

Migros Supermarket
Pasta 11.75
Penne pasta 14.96
1kg Flour 22.50
3 tins of tomatoes 89.85
Total spent 139.06 lira (£3.13)

When I got back I cleared out one of the spare room cupboards and prepared dinner which was only a veggie curry, omelette and steamed rice. When I went in to check on Captain Caveman, he was playing Bridge and we had a row. I was annoyed that he was meant to be in bed because he was too ill to do anything else! I told him I was very concerned about this Bridge addiction and that was all he was spending his time doing. His response made me even more mad; he was not addicted because he hadn’t reached 10,000 hours in 3 years yet! Now I realised that was his aim and he obviously was not going to do anything else until he reached that target. I was fuming! Shoot me now!!!!

Captain Caveman was still sneezing and sniffling and had taken to waking me up just before 7.30am with a sneeze on Saturday 26th October. He brought me a cup of Yorkshire tea in bed and we were due to go to the market. We didn’t end up getting there until 11am but we had quite a list of things to get this week. Here’s what we bought at each stall, with prices in lira;

Stall 1
Potatoes & Onions 80 lira (£1.80)

Stall 2
Leeks, pumpkin, red cabbage, 1 lemon
200 lira (£4.50)

Stall 3
Tomatoes & peppers 105 lira (£2.36)

Stall 4
Carrots & Apples 52 lira (£1.71)

Stall 5
Peanuts 100 lira (£2.25)

Stall 6
Mushrooms 50 lira (£1.13)

Stall 7
Olives 100 lira (£2.25)

Total spent 687 lira (£15.47)

This was the most we had spent at the market in a while but we had got quite a lot for the money, some of which would easily last longer than next week, and we still had over 12 (mostly unripe) bananas in the fruit bowl.
Captain Caveman had wanted to go out for a Turkish breakfast but Saklı Bahçe had been closed when he checked. I love Turkish breakfasts but they always make me have a bad stomach for at least 2 days so I preferred to avoid them where possible. I suggested that we could make our own version of a Turkish breakfast at home and I prepared the table with all of this; feta style cheese, roasted red peppers in Quark with garlic, gherkins, baba ghanoush, olives, tomatoes, bread, jam, honey and sliced apple. Captain Caveman made himself an egg to go with his too.
While Captain Caveman played more Bridge on his phone in the afternoon (I give up!), I sorted out lots of clothes and belongings from the spare room and started putting clothes which had been packed away in to the washing pile. We’d already agreed that Captain Caveman would cook dinner tonight so that I could get on with things I needed to do but hadn’t yet. He made a spaghetti carbonara which was very tasty and we shared some red wine with it.

Dalyan – 24th October

I had decided to join the Riverbums on Thursday 24th October, the organiser was away so they had left Captain Caveman in charge of proceedings. I had a cup of Yorkshire tea and overnight oats for breakfast before walking with Captain Caveman to Kefal tea gardens to get the gear out of storage and ready to depart on the electric boat at 10am. Unfortunately, no boat appeared and one of the Turkish Bummers had to contact the organiser to find out where our boat and driver was. After a short delay, we were on our way in a normal boat, not the Riverbums one. We spent about 2.5 hours clearing up rubbish near the natural sulphur and rock pools over the other side of the river, in a field where sheep are and close to the mudbaths. I’d been there before with the Riverbums and it used to be a really bad area for lots of rubbish being thrown there. I was very pleasantly surprised that it was much cleaner. We did find a sheep who had put its head through a swing top bin and was wandering around wearing the lid like a necklace. Captain Caveman freed it of the bin lid and then the sheep wanted to say thank you. The boat captain gave them some reeds to eat as they were all quite peckish.
Back at the tea garden, we were already running over time so no one stopped for a beverage or snack and we all went home.

Captain Caveman and I had showers and soup for lunch with pasta in and some bread. In the local news there was an update that with immediate effect, renters in our area were able to apply for residency renewal for 2 years now and only had to show proof of 1.5 times the basic wage deposited in to their Turkish bank for 3 consecutive months. I was waiting for my new residency card which had expired on 19th October, so it was too late for me and I was stuck with just 6 months. Hopefully, if things didn’t change again before mid February, I would be able to apply for 2 years then, meaning I would be able to leave Turkey for more than 15 days by May, if I was approved.
In the afternoon, I got on with more training for Resort Experts and I was getting through the training quickly but now I had a 2 page To Do list. After working 2-6pm while Captain Caveman played Bridge on his phone, I was quite tired, and got a bit peeved that he was not very responsive to putting his phone down or helping me. He was also incredibly sneezy again, which was probably made worse from the pollen when Riverbumming.
In just 2 months’ time, it would be our 13 year anniversary so I mentioned this to Captain Caveman and asked if he intended for us to make it that far. I was getting increasingly more annoyed that all he wanted to do was play Bridge. He had said he was making his own to do list of other things he needed to do but, aside from washing clothes and hanging them out, he was obsessed with little else but Bridge. Captain Caveman thought I was overreacting (I didn’t think so) and said of course we would make it to 13 years! In all honesty, if I had a teenage son who was constantly playing games on his phone and ipad, I would not have allowed it. However, it was Captain Caveman’s house and there was no amount of me moaning that would stop him spending as much time on Bridge as he liked! I’d also noticed that if Captain Caveman wasn’t playing Bridge he was totally fascinated in watching random reels on his phone. If I interrupted him he would scroll past ‘someone painting a hole’ or ‘plaiting dust’ but got a bit snarky that I had questioned him. He really hates me asking him any ‘irrelevant’ questions.
I made dinner of chickpea and spinach curry with steamed rice and we had a bottle of red wine between us.

Dalyan – 23rd October

On Wednesday 23rd October I made Pho Ga (Vietnamese chicken noodle soup) again, this time with not as much chilli for Captain Caveman. I did my measurements to find that on the home scales I had remained the same weight as last week, but I had lost 2cm from my waist and 4cm from my hips. Finally, I was now back so that all my measurements were under or at target. I was pleased with that, even though I still needed to lose 3.9kg (7.8lb).
Captain Caveman played Bridge on his phone for most of the day, stopping to make himself a sandwich. I went to Turkish class at 11.30am for just over an hour and then got back on with more work. I had completed 25% of the training videos so far and had lists of questions and stuff for my To Do list. I’d not had time for writing any more of my book as I was eager to get on with making Resort Experts work well for me.
I went to Fat Club at 3pm and was really pleased to have lost weight on Carol’s scales. I had lost 0.7kg (1.5lb) this week, but I still needed to lose another 4.65kg (10lb), according to her scales, to get to target. I was now back to having lost 1 stone and was determined to keep at it. I definitely felt loads better and healthier, my skin was also so much better and my eczema had never returned!
I came back home and was a bit peeved that Captain Caveman was not interested in looking up from his phone to ask how I had done. I decided to take some spare sun creams and mosquito spray over to my parents, as they had ran out but were still in Dalyan for another 3 weeks and 3 days. I asked if he wanted to come with me but he was too engrossed in Bridge and said to go without him. He was definitely at the stage now where he couldn’t wait for me to be busy or go out so that he could be playing Bridge. I was concerned about him, as once he gets obsessed with something, nothing else matters.
I was hoping we would be able to tell my parents my good news together, about having a new job. When I got to Ma & Pa’s I didn’t tell them about my new job but I did like their new sofa. I wasn’t in the best of moods and neither of them asked as they were updating me on their adventures with their Dalyan friends. They had been on lots of days and nights out and were really enjoying their holiday, which was great to hear. They were off on a trip to Fethiye and Caliş this week with the usual crowd, so were looking forward to the fish and chips that everyone goes for at Charcoal Palace.
I went back home, Captain Caveman was still playing Bridge (obviously) and I wasn’t in the mood. I told him that he could get his finger out and make dinner as I was attending my first Resort Experts team meeting tonight and would be too busy. I was determined to have him at least put his phone down and be upright for a change.
The first Resort Experts team meeting went well and everyone was friendly. I hadn’t mastered the art of blurring or changing my background on the video call, which gets recorded, so the messy kitchen was in full view!
Captain Caveman had made a pasta with chicken, sucuk, peppers, tomato and cheese and it was really nice. He also poured me a glass of red wine as he could tell I was stressed.

Dalyan – 20th to 22nd October

It was quite a bit cooler in the morning when I woke up with Captain Caveman’s alarm at 7.30am on Sunday 20th October. The forecast for the rest of the month looked really good, though. Captain Caveman brought me my cup of tea in bed and he was looking forward to the Sunday Walk. I was looking less forward to it as I was really tired and a little overwhelmed at how much was on my To Do list, so much so that most of it wasn’t even written on a list yet! I decided I wouldn’t go on the Sunday Walk today, so that I could take the time to get some things done. It didn’t quite work out as planned but I did manage to get some cheese and spinach pasties made with wraps, Slimming World style, and put some lentil, tomato, pumpkin and carrot soup in the slow cooker. It’s surprising how long it takes to chop veg, as Captain Caveman was back from his walk and ready for lunch before I’d done much else. We had leek and potato soup with a freshly cooked pasty and it was delicious.
Luckily, for dinner I had already got out the remaining beef kleftiko from the freezer so all I had to do was pop on the rice cooker and knock up some red cabbage to go with it.

While Captain Caveman went Dogging on the morning of Monday 21st October, I did some work for my new venture, ate overnight oats for breakfast and had a pomegranate when I took a break. I booked in my first meeting with the boss for tomorrow afternoon. At lunch time Captain Caveman came back and I heated up some of the veggie soup for us, with bread!! For dinner I warmed up another freezer special, which was the chicken curry with steamed rice. Later, Captain Caveman and I decided to watch Netflix and I made popcorn, without butter, in my popcorn maker. Within minutes of starting to watch something, Captain Caveman was asleep and snoring away.

I had my usual cup of tea in bed on Tuesday 22nd October and then stayed out of the way of Captain Caveman making his breakfast. He went to his Bridge Club and I made myself some veggie egg fried rice for a late breakfast.
I had a meeting with my new boss where he ran through the Resort Experts’ intranet sight, the quote system, the marketing guide and set me some homework. The session went well and I left the call knowing I had a lot of training to do while my Facebook business page was being built for me. I had 8 training videos to watch and would start doing them tomorrow. I also made a Work To do list and would continue to add to it as I went along.
Captain Caveman called at the shops on the way back from Bridge Club and bought fresh bread for 10 lira (22p) and 2.4kg of bananas for 141.12 lira (£3.17). The bananas, of which there were 13, looked very hard and unripe but Captain Caveman was sure they would quickly ripen. We had lentil and vegetable soup with cheese on toast, which Captain Caveman made as I was still doing work related things. I carried on working, mainly reading and training related stuff, while Captain Caveman lay down and played Bridge on his phone all afternoon.
At 5.30pm, I suggested we go to the shops so that I could get some fresh air and Captain Caveman could stop playing Bridge as it seemed to be getting even more of an obsession recently. Here’s what we bought, prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Potatoes 6.63
Spring onions 24.95
2 Quark 59.90
Tortilla wraps 59.95
Sucuk (Turkish salami) 95.90
Butter 99.95
White Cheese (like Feta) 114.90
Total Spent 500.13 lira (£11.24)

Unfortunately, I wanted to buy chicken, but they had none left – this often seems to happen on a Tuesday for some reason. We walked on to the next shop to look for chicken.

A101 Supermarket
1.7kg Whole chicken 171.24 lira (£3.85)

Back home, and after a snack of cheese spread on bread, I made myself a cup of tea and then got to chopping vegetables. Captain Caveman had gone upstairs for a live online Bridge session but I cannot stand the voice of the man presenting it!
I made roast chicken with rosemary and garlic potatoes, red cabbage and spinach and it tasted really good. There was also plenty left for tomorrow’s meals. I’d already consumed 250 syns this week and then drank 2 glasses of red wine as I’d not had a drink since Friday. This was probably bad news for any anticipated weight loss this week!

Dalyan – 19th October

We were lucky enough to be on another boat trip, on Saturday 19th October, but I was a bit hung over. I felt bad that we had to kick our friend out as we were on a 9.30am start. We quickly had a cup of tea before we walked her to the bus and said our goodbyes. Hopefully, Steff would be able to come over again and we pencilled in for the day of the Dalyan Winter Fayre.
On board the boat today were a lovely mix of friends as well as Captain Caveman and my parents. We were once again with Captain Fuat and The Photographer on Adil boat and this time we were on a route set by the Captain, especially for us.
We had tea and coffee and some birdwatching on the way. We usually see Kingfishers which are popular in Dalyan but we also saw some lesser spotted species that I’d not encountered before.

**Photo credit – photos by friends on the boat, including Paul**

There were courgette fritters handed round by the Captain after we had a visit to a couple of islands. Dad and I swam round one of them with a friend and it was quite far. The water was a little on the cold side but still ok for us Brits – it was fine once you were in. It took quite some effort to swim round the island but we made it and then Dad and I were a bit weak after. While in the water, each of us saw snakes but did not point them out to one another. We saw that there were wild fires towards Dalaman and water planes kept filling up near us in the lake. It turned out no one else had a swim as it was too cold for them, so we decided to warm up at the mud baths.

**Photo credit – some taken by friends on the boat, including Paul**

When we got to Sultaniye, Captain Caveman and I went in with a couple of the others. Ma & Pa went to the pools that normally have domes on but they were being repaired so were open air, the others didn’t want to go in and saved themselves 30 lira (67p) each. Captain Caveman and I really enjoyed the hot pool and he was impressed, as he saw that beers were only 120 lira (£2.70) and they served food. It was now on his list of places to come in the winter. We had a lovely BBQ in a quiet spot and there were lots of different dishes.

Back home, Captain Caveman and I had Slimming World wraps made in to pizza for dinner which I made without realising we didn’t have any melty cheese in the house so we made do. It had been a lovely day out and I was very sleepy as we set our alarms for 7.30am tomorrow.

Dalyan – 18th October

Captain Caveman was at Bridge Club on the morning of Friday 18th October while I worked some more on my book. I’d had more positive feedback about all of my titles and I started to think I could perhaps put out a series of 3 (or more). I also signed my new contract and had now committed fully to being a Travel Advisor for Resort Experts. I started some lists so that I was getting organised for my new role and wrote down ideas and training requirements.
A friend who lives in Hisaranou, Steff, was also on her way to Dalyan and had messaged to say she was leaving Fethiye bus station. I’d got a Book Blueprint Masterclass with Abigail Horne, owner of Authors & Co, at 2pm so we didn’t have long until I needed to go back home for that. Captain Caveman had agreed to entertain Steff and I had drafted in my parents to help out. The idea was that they would go to the beach, I would have my one hour of online course, and then get the next bus down to join them at the beach. We all went to Kaunos tea gardens where I had just a large tea. I rushed back home and the one hour course was very good. I learned about the importance of a blueprint, talked about the difference between expository and narrative non-fiction and I realised my book(s) was going to be a mixture of both styles. I found out about the 10 step structure which was invaluable to me, and I’d already written my introduction, 13 chapter titles and had ideas for my afterward before the masterclass had ended.

On finishing the course, I messaged Steff to check she was ok and if they had got the 3pm bus to the beach, which I would miss but I could get the next one. She replied that they were still at the tea gardens and so I said I would come to them. Captain Caveman told Steff to say to stay where I was and they would come home but it was a lovely sunny day and I didn’t want to be stuck inside. Here’s what we had with prices in lira:
1 Turkish tea 15
1 coffee 50
1 cheese gözleme 150
3 Efes Malt beers at 435
2 white wine & orange juice 450
1 white wine 225
Total spent 1,325 lira (£29.64)

Instead of going to the beach, we said farewell to my parents and the 3 of us decided to go to Retro bar for some wine and cheese. We saw Nusret and Gonca while we were there and it turned out that Steff and her husband knew the new bar man there. The drinks were much more reasonably priced here and we had the following;
4 glasses of wine (with cheese) 400.00
1 Efes Malt 90.00
Total spent 490.00 lira (£10.96)

Conveniently, Captain Caveman had gone home to start making our dinner so I paid the bill then we walked round, feeling a bit chilly. Back home, Captain Caveman was making the 3 of us some pasta with meatballs and we had some drinks in the fridge.
After dinner, and a cheeky Malibu and diet coke, Steff and I went to the shop. Captain Caveman also thought it was probably unwise for her to get the bus all the way back late at night and said she could stay over. At the shop, Steff not only bought a bottle of white wine, but she got some extra snacks/crisps.
Captain Caveman polished off the snacks and fell asleep while Steff and I were chatting so I sent him to bed before us. I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d needed before Steff arrived, but we had laughed so much that the time had flown by and I’d realised I’d missed this! Because Steff and I had both been on health kicks as well as concentrating on our own careers, we were lightweights now but it was good to let our hair down. It was definitely gone midnight when we retired and I knew I would regret it in the morning.

Photo credit – some taken by Steff and Captain Caveman

Dalyan – 17th October

Thursday 17th October was set aside for book writing and I got stuck in to that straight after my cup of tea and a Slimming World pancake. I had now perfected the odd pancake which uses egg, mushed banana and oats to make a healthy pancake, topped with a sliced banana and a drizzle of honey. It tasted lovely and was on plan so I felt better after veering off plan yesterday.

After getting my proposed book titles for my book completed, I set off to meet Captain Caveman who was at Kefal tea gardens with the other Bummers. He’d been collecting the trash and was now having a beer and a toastie, which I had a little bit of with a lemon soda.

The bill at the tea gardens was;

1 Lemon soda 25.00
1 Mixed toastie 100.00
1 Efes Malt beer 145.00
Total spent 270 lira (£6.07)

I didn’t think the price was bad but some of the expats I knew, had stopped going to the tea gardens as they thought it was far too expensive for alcohol.

Back home, I spotted a caterpillar and learned something new; the eyes on the caterpillar are actually a pattern on their bum. Apparently, this is to confuse it’s enemies. For lunch we had more leek and potato soup with bread so I was already on 88 syns for the week – and it was only day 2!
I got on with more book and blog writing and then we had chicken curry for dinner.
In the evening I had a few replies on my book title ideas which made me rethink my original plan.

Dalyan & Köyceğiz – 16th October

It was the last Ladies Only Moonlight boat trip of the year, on Wednesday 16th October. Unfortunately, we had arranged it to leave at 3pm which meant I couldn’t go to Fat Club this week. I still took my measurements and got on the home scales; I had lost 1cm from my bust, but put 1cm on both waist and hips which was disappointing as I’d done quite well this week. My home scales said I had lost 1.1kg (2.4lb) but only carol’s scales were the reading to go by. Captain Caveman brought me tea in bed and then did his own breakfast. Carol messaged to say that I could walk to her house, where she would leave her scales in a safe place and I could get weighed still. I walked from our place to where I thought Carol lived but then got lost and couldn’t find her house. After 40 minutes, I gave up as Captain Caveman and I had a meeting at King Emlak at 9am. I was going to be late so I went straight to the estate agents and happened to be the first there.
I got laughed at for getting lost trying to find Carol’s as it was really close to where we were so we both walked from King Emlak to Carol’s for me to get weighed. Once there, we found that Carol had forgotten to leave the scales out. A little disappointed, we walked back home only to get a message from Carol to say she had forgotten and to apologise. Oh well, at least I had done over an hour of walking before 10am.
Back home, I was so hungry, I ate a banana. I went to my Turkish class at Lukka bar and then came back to do day 3 of my Get it Started course. I was starting to think I’d got too much to do before the boat trip that I was getting a bit stressed. Captain Caveman was getting on my nerves a bit for not listening and being engrossed in playing Bridge on his phone at every opportunity, even when he could see I was trying to do everything that needed doing. While I had been at Turkish class, he had gone to the shop, thinking he was being helpful by buying ‘essentials’ but I disagreed. Here’s what he got and the prices in lira;

BIM supermarket
Bin Bags 25.00
750ml Liquid Soap 93.50
Total spent 118.50 lira (£2.67)

Şok Supermarket
10 eggs 59.00 lira (£1.33)

In my opinion the bin liners were too thin and small and I had already told Captain Caveman that if we ran out of soap in any of the 4 dispensers at the 4 sinks, I had more Olive Oil (non-allergenic) in a new bottle, beneath the kitchen sink. So now we had more soap, that we didn’t need. He had used the last of the frozen berries in a smoothie though, so he had to go get some more a couple of hours later.
For lunch, I was busy trying to get everything done so Captain Caveman made me a peanut butter sandwich, as he was having one with Marmite on too! I’d asked Captain Caveman if he was going to meet some of the other halves of the ladies but he didn’t know them well enough to do that. I’d invited my Mom on the trip, thinking Captain Caveman and Dad could go to the pub while we were gone, but she didn’t fancy it and didn’t want to leave Dad unattended.

By the time I got to the boat for our Ladies Only moonlight trip, I was feeling very light-headed and a bit woozy but I was determined to have a good time.
The cost of the trip was £30 and a glass of wine was 140 lira (£2.42) which I thought was good value for money. Captain Fuat on Adil boat is one of my favourites and he even gave out Pomegranate wine to everyone with cake at the beginning of the trip, which was a nice touch as we sailed to Köyceğiz.

We had a visit to the market town (no market, but a bit of browsing in the shops for tat) and then got back on the boat to sail out to a sunset swim. It was absolutely wonderful and the water was still warm enough to get away with a nice swim. As is usual on these boat trips, there was so much food to enjoy and I noticed that the Captain just kept on feeding us with courgette fritters, chicken nuggets, chips, fruit and then a full buffet style dinner. I also indulged in a couple of rosé wines and spent time chatting with the ladies, which was nice. It was a very lovely trip and, when I got home, I was super tired.

Photo credit – some photos by other ladies on the boat, the Captain and The Photographer

Dalyan – 15th October

On Tuesday 15th October I made Vietnamese pho ga (chicken noodle soup) for breakfast, which was really tasty. Obviously, it was using pho stock cubes from Vietnam so not completely authentic, but it definitely satisfied my craving for it. I added chillies to Captain Caveman’s but they were a bit lively! I messaged Mom, as she had still not messaged about not popping over last night. They had ended up in Tapa with the rest of the boat trip friends. She said her battery had died but assumed we wouldn’t have come even if she had invited us!
Captain Caveman went to Bridge Club and I attended day 2 of the Get it Started free course, which went really well. I got peckish late morning and had a banana sandwich but still had leek and potato soup with Captain Caveman for lunch.
While he popped to the shops to buy ordinary rice from Bim for less than a £1 for 1kg, I finished my course homework and did some work on my book and blog.
I nipped to the bank, checked the exchange rate at Aksoy and the exchange place near the turtle roundabout; they were 44.0 and 43.5. I went to my parents’, to wish them a late happy anniversary, they were having a quiet day after a large one on the booze yesterday. They had loved their time on the yellow boat yesterday and said they had been invited on a free trip for this weekend, which was the same date as a boat trip they were on with us. They’d turned it down because of not wanting to let me down on the one I’d organised, that wasn’t free.
Back home, I nibbled on grapes and some peanuts and then made courgette risotto for dinner. I really liked it, Captain Caveman isn’t keen on courgettes but he still ate 2 portions of it! There was no wine tonight as I had weigh in tomorrow and I had done quite well on only consuming 162 syns this week.

Dalyan – 13th & 14th October

It was the next Sunday Walk on Sunday 13th October and Captain Caveman was once again in charge. It was a nice walk and I didn’t get lost on this one. Ma & Pa had not joined us this week as they were going to Jamie’s to look at buying one of his sofas. It did mean that I had to keep up with the group, though, and I did 10km in the hot sun. Luckily, I got to chat with Peter, who is a very nice chap and we ended up sharing my banana as neither of us had eaten any breakfast.

At the tea garden, Captain Caveman had a beer but I was sensible with a lemon soda and was feeling quite peckish. We went home for lunch where we had chicken salad sandwiches, with grapes and peanuts as a side for a bit more energy.
I contemplated a nannan nap but I didn’t get one as I prepared dinner; leftover bolognese with red lentils and roasted pumpkin – Slimming World style. After scrubbing the Yorkshire pudding trays every day with no progress I tried the bicarbonate of soda trick but they were still ruined.
Tomorrow was my parents’ 52nd wedding anniversary and they had plans to go on the yellow boat to Köyceğiz for their celebration with Dalyan friends. They were really looking forward to it and quite a few of the other Dalyan Dwellers were invited. My Mom messaged to ask if we would like to join but I declined. Captain Caveman was at the dog shelter tomorrow and I was on another free course. If there had been a bit more notice then I would have loved to have gone. Instead, I invited my parents to call in for a drink when they got back so that we could wish them a happy anniversary.

While my parents tootled off for an amazing anniversary boat trip to Köyceğiz, on Monday 14th October, Captain Caveman and I got on with our ‘normal’ Monday. Captain Caveman had his breakfast and went Dogging (helping out at the Dog Shelter) after bringing me my usual Yorkshire tea in bed. I had overnight oats for breakfast but then got peckish mid-morning and had 2 crackers with some cheese on.
I joined the Get it Started free course with Abigail Horne, owner of Authors & Co, which would help me get a book that I was writing, published. The first session was really useful and we were set to work straight away with a task for homework. I felt motivated and did it straight away.
Captain Caveman was back at lunch time so we had left over bolognese with pasta for our lunch.
In the late afternoon we had a little walk for me to get some fresh air, then I made a chicken and leek bake, from scratch, for dinner. Captain Caveman and I really enjoyed it, I had added a bit of sucuk (Turkish salami) to it, for extra flavour. We even had a bottle of wine with our dinner and did a toast to my parents. The photos of them on Facebook showed that they were having a really good time and I was pleased that they were celebrating their anniversary! Unfortunately, we had to drink the whole bottle between the 2 of us because, as I suspected, my parents were just too busy having fun that they didn’t come round and I didn’t hear from them.