Dalyan – 22nd & 23rd January

There was an almighty bang at 4am on Thursday 22nd January, following a blustery night’s storm. I got out of bed, put my clothes on over the top of my pyjamas and grabbed my house keys and phone. My first thought was that there was someone breaking in to the house and I had to get to little Norman to make sure he was safe. I put the upstairs stair light on and spread my keys between my fingers, making a fist! I got downstairs to the main door which was still locked and I could see no issue there. Norman was snoring away, undisturbed, I checked each door and all was still secure so I didn’t know what it was. I turned back to check if there was anyone/anything upstairs which could have made such a noise and that’s when I stood on the culprit!
A picture had fallen from above the door and was on the hall floor, surprisingly still in one piece. I picked it up, it was made of heavy wood and had been stuck to the wall with what looked like a flimsy bit of velcro. I was almost annoyed there hadn’t been an intruder as I shoved it in a drawer and went back to bed.
When I got back up, just 3 hours later, the day was all about Norman. It was very windy and grey outdoors but Norman had an official complaint not related to weather. He usually has a corner of my toast and he’d not had any this morning so he was huffing about it. We did a video for Jamie so that the complaint was logged and I decided to walk to the shop. Norman wouldn’t even venture outside so I decided the nearest shop would do. Here’s what I bought, with prices in lira;

Şevikoğlu Supermarket
Onions 4.08
Bread 15.00
1 simit 15.00
1 açma 15.00
Peppers 32.96
Total spent 82.04 lira (£1.44)

I did some work and started to think about a trip to somewhere else in Türkiye for a girls trip. Anex Tour UK offer me discount on my own bookings and are also really good for client bookings too. I mulled ideas over while I ate a simit with Red Leicester cheese. Norman came up on the sofa next to me and had afternoon snoozes as it started to rain heavily.
At 2pm I dialled in to the Resort Experts team meeting and, although Jamie couldn’t attend, he did send a photo to the group WhatsApp to give his reasons – he was sipping champagne on a business class flight.
Norman snored throughout the meeting as a storm came in, then I got a couple of messages from Captain Caveman. He had booked me 2 flights and was sending the confirmation; one to go back to the UK at the beginning of July, the other for a return trip to Madrid a few days later. We were off to the Mad Cool Festival for a few days – I’d never been to Madrid before so I was excited. Captain Caveman had already got us Metallica tickets in London, just before that too.
When it came to dog walking time, Norman took one look outside and knew he had to go in the garden as the rain was very heavy. He was quick but came back soaked and had to get dried off with a towel. It was gone 8.30pm when I ate my dinner of chicken with some mystery defrosted food.
I watched a bit of TV and almost fell asleep on the sofa.

Gratitude List
1. Not having an intruder in the house
2. Norman
3. Not getting soaked in the rain.

I woke up at 7am on Friday 23rd January and let Norman out, it was still rainy and he wasn’t keen. After his breakfast, I cheered him up with a corner or 2 of toast and he went back to bed while I cracked on with my morning. I had decided to throw caution to the wind and join a weekend trip to the Costa Del Sol in the summer with a group of  friends. It had been quite a while since I’d been on a girl’s weekend so I jumped at the chance and I got us a good deal on the accomodation.
At 5.30pm it stopped raining so I whisked Norman out for a walk. I also checked around for any rain or storm damage as our main bathroom had quite a bit of water come in the sky light and the wall had gone damp. I put the AC on dehumidifier mode and went to the bank to get cash for the market tomorrow and to the shop to buy provisions. Here’s what I bought with prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Pasta 15.25
Haribo jellies 29.95
1 tin of tomatoes 49.95
Chickpeas 69.95
Halloumi 96.50
3 Quark 149.85
Total spent 411.45 lira (£7.22)

I had sofa snuggles with Norman and then spoke to Captain Caveman as he was driving to/from work. It was gone 9.30pm when I started cooking a meal, I decided to have spaghetti carbonara as it would be quick and I was hungry. It turned out well and I really enjoyed it. Tomorrow I had allowed time off for a market trip if the weather stayed fine.

Gratitude List
1. Norman
2. More holiday plans
3. Carbonara.