Dalyan – 29th December

I’d set my alarm for 8am on Thursday 29th December but woke up before it. Charlie and I were at Jamie’s with Norman and Edna while Jamie was on a quick trip away. I let his dogs out for a wee but Charlie was still asleep on ‘my’ bed. I made a cup of tea and took it back to bed only to find Charlie had taken my spot and got right in the bed!
Captain Caveman was in Saigon already where the weather was nice but it was pretty cold and fresh in Dalyan. Captain Caveman had news that a Ganesh Indian restaurant was opening in Phong Nha so he was excited.
Josh came over after I’d took the dogs for a walk then we sat outside in the very hot sun at the patio table and chairs. We were waiting for the plumber to come and I had been informed by the maintenance company that it would be mid to late morning. Nanny Kay popped over to drop off some ‘spare’ wine and a slow cooker from Christmas Day. Her hands were full when she opened the gate so Norman and Edna got out in to the complex. Luckily Edna returned as soon as I shouted her however Norman, who’s a tad deaf, had legged it to check out what was going off in the far corner, but Josh was able to find him. The plumber came and blamed holiday makers in another villa putting toilet paper down the toilet, then had to get a machine to suck out the blockage. Even though the problem was from another villa, they used Jamie’s downstairs toilet to do the procedure and the smell made me heave. Luckily, they were finished fairly quickly and I’d cleaned the floor and had a cheese sandwich before the next dog walk.
In the afternoon Josh went back to our place and I stayed at Jamie’s with the pooches. Cath (wife of Keith) messaged to say she had tested positive for Covid after feeling like she had a cold yesterday. This meant she needed me to tell all of the attendees of Monday’s boat trip to Köyceğiz, which I did. Everyone was kind and wished her well and some went to get test kits from the chemist as they had ran out.
After another short dog walk, first with Charlie and then with Norman and Edna, I went over to meet my new drinking buddy. Josh and I decided we would go for a drink in Lukka bar where a glass of white wine was 85 lira (£3.75) so I had a couple, Josh had beer and we watched the sun set over the river. Next we decided to go to Jiks bar where they would have a fire on, as we were feeling the cold at Lukka. We ended up have 2 pizzas each, I took one home, and they were really tasty for around only 80 or 90 lira each (less than £4). The price of drinks had gone up now to 80 lira (£3.53) and was more expensive than in Lukka for an Efes beer. We both went home early that night but with plans for an early start tomorrow and a night out for Josh’s last night in Dalyan.

Dalyan – 27th December

The day that my parents and Captain Caveman had to leave Dalyan was Tuesday 27th December. My parents flight back to Manchester was the first, while Captain Caveman’s to Istanbul wasn’t until much later in the day. We’d arranged to all go out for a Goodbye breakfast but it proved trickier than we thought. We’d said to meet at Lukka bar but my parents and Josh had got there first, to be told they weren’t doing breakfasts today. I suggested Ela’s Kitchen which was still closed, Heybe’s and Jiks were both open restaurants but had not opened for the day yet. Then we remembered that Kordon does a breakfast and off we went there but we couldn’t sit inside because we had Charlie, the dog. At Kordon my parents were concerned that they were not going to have enough time to eat breakfast and get back home before Fikri came to pick them up in the taxi. They were already going very early so they had a bit of room to manoeuvre but Dad didn’t want to ask the driver to come later. My mom made me laugh when we suggested it, by saying they may as well be sat in the airport bored, than here!
After breakfast Captain Caveman and Josh said bye to my parents in the street and headed back to our apartment. Captain Caveman still had to finalise some packing and have a spruce up of his belongings before he left later. Josh just needed to limber up for any shenanigans he was to encounter on the rest of his holiday.
I walked with Charlie and my parents to their’s and Altın, a street dog, followed us. My Mom had some leftover food to give me so I was going to pop over to pick that up and see them off. When we arrived, Fikri was already waiting and so my parents hurried to get their hand luggage, pass me the bag of food and say farewell. I wasn’t sure when I would see them again but I hoped I’d be able to get a cheap flight to England at some point. Charlie and I walked with Altın following us, a couple of street dogs came to check Charlie out and she saw them off. Back at home I let Charlie in while I put my parents stuff in the cupboards and he went straight upstairs to see what Captain Caveman was up to. We left after a few minutes and Josh joined me while Captain Caveman carried on packing. We went over to Jamie’s to pick up a key for my next bit of dog and house sitting. While we were there we had a beer and Jamie updated me on the knife drawer on account of Captain Caveman complaining people don’t have sharp knives. Our next stop was Waterfall bar, Captain Caveman came back and joined us and then we went back to Lukka bar for a drink and early dinner. The fellas had burgers and I had the sweet and sour chicken, which I love. After Lukka, we went for one in Tez bar, joined by Jamie, with less than an hour before Captain Caveman’s taxi was coming. For some strange reason, my other half could not take the hint that I might want to see him in private to say bye and was about to go to look over our Aussie friend’s properties instead of saying bye. The farewell was brief and he went outside to wait for Fikri early. He then messaged to say he was still outside so I went to wait with him. Things were ok between us again but now he was leaving for Vietnam with neither of us knowing when I would be able to join him.
I went back to Tez bar where Josh, Jamie and I had a really good laugh and I wasn’t feeling too sad.
When I got back to Charlie’s at 10.30pm, he was sad that Captain Caveman wasn’t with me. I had Christmas cake and cheese for supper then went to bed. Tomorrow I had to face the post Christmas Fat Club weigh-in!

Dalyan – 26th December

As it was my parents’ and Captain Caveman’s last full day in Dalyan on Monday 26th December, I had organised a last outing. After the copious amount of booze yesterday I was somewhat woolly headed as we walked Charlie and told him he would get to have a day at home. We were off on a boat trip to Köyceğiz and there was 28 of us on Ali Özalp’s boat. To make it simple we had organised it via Kaan, who’s boat was out of the water, to leave from near Kaunos Tea Gardens at 10.30am. We would take our own drinks, have a mooch round Köyceğiz market, have a bite to eat and then return before it got too cold. Josh had agreed last night that he would bring a rucksack full of Efes and we would meet him at the tea gardens. We called for croissants and Sprite at Migros then when we met Josh, he had also bought Sprite and we were all begging for mercy, after last night’s boozy shenanigans.
On board the boat were some of the usual reprobates as well as a few new people; my parents, Captain Caveman & me, Josh, Kaan, Tayfur, Vanessa & Matt, Janet & Kev, Adam & Kath, Mark & Kate, Linda, Julio, Julius & Toni, Peter, Bianca, Sue, Ron & Sarah, Cath & Keith, 007 and Gay Gaz. Of course Gay Gaz had turned up already tiddly and hadn’t got the memo that it was bring your own booze, as he stepped on the boat and asked for a vodka and coke. Kaan and Tay sorted out a quick trip to the shops to get Gaz his required fix and then we were off on the pleasant journey to Köyceğiz. I did my best to be sociable with everyone but I was feeling quite tired and delicate, and it wasn’t my last day in Dalyan, afterall. When we got to Köyceğiz I was keen to go to the fruit and veg market on account of not going on Saturday in Dalyan. There had been some talk of us all meeting up in Tuana restaurant and, if not, back on the boat at 3pm. My parents, Josh, Captain Caveman and I went off in search of fresh produce and left the others to decide what they were doing. After purchasing a rather heavy bag load of groceries I was looking forward to having a sit down and a cold drink. We didn’t get as far as Tuana before I needed to put the bag down and nip to the loo at Avant Garde restaurant. A lovely little place on the waterfront which also had good veggie options on the menu. I got a bit over ambitious and ordered a chicken burger, mom had a seafood pasta dish and the men had various quesadillas/wraps. Only Dad and Captain Caveman could manage a beer, while I hoped I’d make it home in tact.

By 3pm we were all mostly back on the boat but just waiting for a stray or two. It would be have been easy for any onlooker to think we were in the throws of a murder mystery afternoon but it turned out Kev was feeling rather more delicate than I was and had gone for a lay down on the front of the boat. Sailing back was pleasant and sunny but it was rather fresh as the sun dipped. Gay Gaz was on one of his ‘drunken and don’t care’ missions by leaning on the anchor chain while being precariously close to the switch. A few of us tried to talk him in to moving due to it not being safe and that he could end up decapitated, but it fell on deaf ears. What made him move in the end was that he might get his bright yellow coat dirty.

When we got off the boat most people went home for a good rest while only the foolhardy and inebriated soldiered on for a last drink at Rehab bar. Captain Caveman and I decided we would go get Charlie and walk him back to Rehab. By the time we got there, Kate was doing a superb job of trying to get Gay Gaz in to a taxi where neither them nor the driver knew Gaz’s address. Luckily, I had it marked on my phone and could tell the driver as Kate shouted ‘Get in to the choppa, Gary!’
In Rehab bar, Julius and Peter got their decks out and gave us a few tunes while they waited for their taxi back to Fethiye. Charlie didn’t really care for the music but he certainly was up for meeting more people and chasing a stray dog if he got the chance.
That night we didn’t even all go out as I think we had overdone it. Captain Caveman and I stayed in and he insisted on having some quiet time with Charlie to say goodbye – I think they would miss each other. My parents still went out as they had nothing in for dinner and Josh went out, but separately. Tomorrow we would all meet for breakfast and to say farewell.

Dalyan – 25th December

When I woke up on Sunday 25th December, I was slightly regretting agreeing to a Christmas Day walk so early. Our friend, 007, had previously suggested that she would like to join Captain Caveman, my parents and I if we decided to opt out of the usual Christmas Day festivities and go for a walk. We’d been looking after Charlie for 26 days now and I was wanting to make sure that we gave him plenty of exercise before we left him to go out enjoying ourselves.
007 was prompt and outside Waterfall bar at 9.30am and it was just us and Charlie, who wasn’t really wanting to go out for a walk and wanted to stay at home.
We had a lovely walk, chat and 2 stops for a hot beverage at the tea gardens, one of which we couldn’t take the dog to so we had to move on. We had set off in the cold but had ended up taking several layers off and by 1pm, when I headed back ‘home’, it was very sunny. 007 had kindly given me a small Christmas gift which I put in the kitchen for later. Charlie was absolutely done in and had decided he was getting on the sofa and not moving. This was concerning as I’d already told my parents I would go on another walk with them this afternoon. The one this morning had been too early for them but I was also worried I’d even manage it as it I was pretty tired already. Captain Caveman was about to leave to meet Josh and they were heading off to Dalaman to watch Dalyan Spor play football. I was unsure if they would be going at all as they had struggled to find transport to accommodate everyone who wanted to go.
When I contacted my mom about the walk she suggested we went to the tea garden for lunch first and then see about a walk afterwards, which I was pleased about, even though I’d already been to the other two this morning. I didn’t take Charlie with me, much to his delight and we bumped in to Tay (from Rehab) and he joined us. My mom and I had Fanta, Dad had a beer, my parents had a sandwich and I just had chips. It was really warm and we spent a couple of hours there before going back home, ready to meet up again in a couple of hours, once the fellas were back from Dalaman.

By 5pm on Christmas Day, Captain Caveman and I were treating Charlie to a trip to see his friends in Waterfall bar after his walk to Poo Corner. My parents were on their way to meet us and Josh had popped back to Captain Caveman’s apartment to get ready for tonight’s shenanigans. After dropping Charlie back off at home we walked to Bistro Blue where I had booked the 5 of us in for a meal. Captain Caveman was on good form and behaving himself, he even agreed to share starters with me. We chose stuffed mushrooms and garlic mushrooms, Josh had the onion bhajis and I can’t remember what my parents had. I was too busy trying to make sure Captain Caveman didn’t snaffle both starters. For main courses my parents had casserole type dishes, Josh had a veggie stir fry, Captain Caveman had chicken fajitas and I decided to have the steak with peppercorn sauce. My parents ordered a nice wine that they particularly liked, Captain Caveman and I stuck to the cheapest, Buzbağ, and Josh was on Efes. The meal was really lovely and I enjoyed my steak very much, having gone for the big size I had to take some home. Captain Caveman couldn’t eat all his chicken fajitas either so we had that packaged up along with a trifle and a mince pie, courtesy of Annie. We had thought we might pop by Adam and Kath’s for a drink to wish them, as well as Mark and Kate, a Merry Christmas but it was getting late. By 9.45pm Captain Caveman had surprisingly ordered an Irish coffee and was scooping the cream off, Dad was on brandy, Josh on the posh whisky, Mom and I on the Bailey’s. Annie gave us complimentary shots, Ferrero Rocher and After Eight Mints to finish off our meal and we didn’t leave there until almost midnight. I’d really enjoyed my non-festive Christmas Day and it seemed like everyone else had too.

Dalyan – 21st & 22nd December

On Wednesday 21st December we had Jamie booked in for introducing his dogs to Charlie. Captain Caveman was leaving in less than a week and I already had Norman and Edna (Jamie’s dogs) booked in at the end of December and again in January. Jamie had kindly agreed to let me bring Charlie with me when I moved in to his villa but we did need to make sure the dogs got on. They had met before but Edna had been a bit of a Diva so Charlie had been scared of her. Captain Caveman decided to warm up left over sausage casserole and potatoes for our brunch, it certainly wasn’t Slimming World friendly but tasted lovely. An update popped up on a Facebook group to say that the local buses were going to be on from 12 on Christmas Eve to take people to and from the beach at the usual cost of just 36 lira (£1.60) return and I sent it to my mom just incase but she’d booked the private bus with Vanessa already so she didn’t need it. I popped a curry in the slow cooker, we both walked Charlie and then I went to find out my fate at Fat Club. To my surprise I had lost 0.4kg (less than a pound) which meant I had lost just over 3kg, in total. The group had a good chat, mainly about trying not to use the Christmas excuse to eat and drink more in the run up to Christmas Day. Our group leader, Carol, confirmed we would still be having a meeting next week, in between Christmas and New Year, so that we could attempt to keep things under control! After Fat Club, I went to meet Captain Caveman at Rehab bar where he was playing pool. Charlie was making more new friends and trying to eat cat food from a hole in the bottom of a bag. I’d invited my parents but they didn’t fancy it; they had been for a walk, called at the tea gardens and were heading to Tez bar. I saw Kath, Kate and Vanessa at Rehab and more talk about Christmas arrangements/buses and such like had ensued and I could feel the tenseness of it all. I was glad not to be doing anything Christmassy as it seemed to be stressing some of the women out. Captain Caveman had decided he was going to watch football on Christmas Day and I fancied doing a dog walk. When we got home the chicken curry was coming along nicely and Jamie, Norman and Edna were due over soon. Unfortunately, Captain Caveman and I had a row because he was annoyed at me for getting involved in Christmas arrangement discussions. I was upset and was very close to cancelling Jamie coming round but decided it was too late and I didn’t care if I was emotional in front of Jamie anyway. I took Charlie out for a walk, it was dark and he alerted me to something by the side of the road – a dead cat. I took a photo so that I coud send it to the Cat charity woman, Tina, it looked like a well fed pet rather than a street cat – I thought she could post it on her page to let people know.
Fortunately, I managed to hold it all together and get on with our night without a meltdown. Jamie never suspected a thing because Captain Caveman acted as if nothing was wrong. We were all so pleased that the dogs did get on, albeit a little apprehensively on Charlie’s part at first. The curry went down a treat as did the red wine and we had a good night in the end.

It was our 11 year anniversary on Thursday 22nd December but it didn’t go well. We had mentioned it a couple of days ago but that morning, Captain Caveman didn’t acknowledge it and neither did I. He was constantly playing Bridge on an app on his phone and every time I spoke I had to repeat myself so I was at the point where I couldn’t be bothered to converse. He went Bumming in the morning and I got the laptop out. There was meant to be a plumber coming today or tomorrow too so I stayed in to make sure Charlie wasn’t near any workmen or left alone as he would be scared. In the afternoon my Mom messaged to ask if we were planning on doing anything for our anniversary and I replied that Captain Caveman was probably playing Bridge on his phone. She suggested we go out to celebrate, I wasn’t really feeling it and I needed not to be hungover tomorrow for a busy day. When Captain Caveman returned I asked if he wanted to go to meet my parents and he then twigged it was our anniversary so we decided to go. My parents had already been out for a bit when the 3 of us got to Tez bar, which was busy and full of smokers. I instantly had a coughing fit and just could not stop, despite having not coughed for 2 days. I walked off towards the river to get some air and my mom joined me shortly afterwards. I eventually went back and sat down but I was not enjoying not being able to breathe very well. I joined my parents, Captain Caveman and Gay Gaz outside and at least I could tell Gaz to move his fag without upsetting him.
While I wasn’t looking, Dad organised for a bottle of fizz to celebrate our anniversary and we were probably in the wrong place to get champagne. I think he paid a lot for it and I got annoyed that Captain Caveman didn’t even say thank you. We ended up giving Gay Gaz a glass seeing as he was sat with us and he didn’t waste any. My parents asked us to go for a meal but we weren’t up for it and we had some curry left over at home. We said our goodbyes to my tiddly parents and then arguments got worse between me and Captain Caveman. He was generally being condescending and unkind, I was not happy about it so I went in to the bedroom. Charlie kept me company as he could tell I was upset but nothing prepared me for what happened next; Captain Caveman had eaten all of the curry for his dinner and not saved me any.

Dalyan – 20th December

I was feeling much better on Tuesday 20th December but not 100%. I decided to take it easy during the day aside from being the hoover assistant to Captain Caveman. He had finally got the right tools and fixings to mend Abi’s wardrobe with and my role was to offer up the hoover to suck up the dust as he drilled the new holes. I was sceptical it would be fixable but he did a cracking job and Abi could definitely have more weight on the wardrobe rail and shelf now. It did mean she probably wouldn’t be able to find stuff when she got back as he’d taken all the outfits and bags out and not necessarily put them back as they were. In the early evening the weather was still nice as we took Charlie for a walk and had a quick trip to the shop where we bought the following;

Migros Supermarket

Onions 5.93
Potatoes 8.14
Red peppers 10.79
6 Eggs 22.45
1kg chicken breasts 75.65

Total spent 122.96 (£5.34)

When we got back I explained to Charlie that we were off out for dinner and a party. He wasn’t too pleased and decided to show me his bum!

We had been invited to Michele’s 60th birthday party at Temsi restaurant. It started at 7.30pm and, as I was probably still full of germs, even though I was feeling better, I went for a table away from everyone. Adam and Kath had just returned to Dalyan so they joined us and then Bill and Jaxx, from the Dog shelter, came and sat beside us. Michele had very kindly put a bottle of each colour wine on the table for us to drink, had organised a curry dinner and a band. It was one of the best parties I’d been to in a while and the wine seemed to perk me up no end! Before the night was over I had managed to get as many photos as possible, dance to the band and eat a very delicious curry themed buffet. We only stayed until the singing of ‘Happy Birthday’ and cake cutting as I didn’t want to overdo it. I’d enjoyed the party and it was the first time I’d been at Temsi’s new venue since it moved in to the old Nazo’s building a while ago. We were impressed and it had been lovely to be invited and see so many people celebrating.

Video of the band at the beginning of the night

A video of a few of us dancing to a song that Ian, from the band, dedicated to the ladies of the Fat Club – Lip up Fatty by Bad Manners.

Dalyan – 18th & 19th December

I’d not slept from coughing most of the night and was still feeling rough on Sunday 18th December. Before I’d got out of bed I’d had messages from various people about buses to the beach on Christmas Eve. When I’ve been before I’ve just got the public bus but for some reason people were getting their knickers in a twist about organising private mini buses to take everyone. Captain Caveman and I had already decided we would get a taxi because then we could take Charlie and if it got too much for him we could leave when we wanted. I’d already checked with Fikri that he would allow Charlie in the car and he would. I told my Mom, Vanessa and Kate that we would be doing that. We would also be meeting Josh in Lukka bar as soon as we got back from the beach and that they could join us too. For some unknown reason one of the expats in Tez Bar had told my mom that I was organising a trip to Fethiye or Çalış for next week. This lead my Mom to wonder why I hadn’t asked her when the reality was I was sick in bed, was never involved and it wasn’t true – sometimes I despair! While Captain Caveman went dogging and looked after the dog walking, I had soup and toast. I was exhausted but I finished what I needed to do, by which time Captain Caveman had gone to watch Dalyan Spor play football in the afternoon. I’d managed to make a curry in the slow cooker for dinner before going back to bed.

I was still sick and awake from coughing at 5am on Monday 19th December. Captain Caveman made me a bacon sandwich when he got up and I ate it in bed. We had an invite to Jan and David’s Christmas party this lunch time and I really wanted to go but I was very conscious that, although I’d tested negative for Covid, whatever I had got didn’t need to be passed on to anyone (vulnerable or not). Jan and David are in Captain Caveman’s Bridge group so he’d become quite good friends with them and we were both pleased to have been invited. Captain Caveman thought I looked much better and suggested I go but I didn’t think I should. I stayed at ‘home’ with Charlie, made a slow cooker meal with roast potatoes for later and slept, a lot. When Captain Caveman returned he had a Christmas card and 6 mince pies from Jan and David and I was really touched. I could tell I was ill as it made me emotional when I bit in to one of the rather delicious mince pies. Captain Caveman said he’d had a good time at the party with some lovely food and nice people.
I went back to bed, slept more and woke up feeling a little bit like I was starting to recover. For the first time in 4 days I decided to join Captain Caveman and Charlie on their walk and wrapped myself up warmly. We had only gone to Poo corner and were heading back in the direction of the corner shop so we could pick up some bread when I started to get out of breath. This flu bug really had knocked it out of me and, as we approached the end of the road, we saw Vanessa, Matt and my parents sat in Waterfall bar. They had been out to Dalaman for the day and had called in to our local for a beer. We went in but I was so wary of being near them in case I passed on my illness and I wasn’t really functioning properly. Mehmet automatically brought me a beer which I didn’t want and I gave most of it to Captain Caveman. I don’t even remember what we talked about apart from buses and Christmas Eve beach arrangements. By 7pm we were eating sausage casserole with lovely roast potatoes and I was back in bed early.

Dalyan – 13th December

It was my last cat feeding session on Tuesday 13th December at Mark and Kate’s as, hopefully, they would be on the flight back from Gatwick this morning. I wasn’t sure if there definitely would be a flight due to the adverse weather conditions in England so I kept the house key when I left that morning. It was rainy and muddy on my way back. Both Captain Caveman and Charlie were still asleep and the house was quite messy. It was clear that Captain Caveman had forgotten I was due ‘home’ or he wasn’t excited to have me back. I had a shower and put some washing in while Captain Caveman got ready to go to Bridge and walked Charlie. At 11.10am, Turkish time, Mark and Kate’s flight had gone ahead and I was pleased they were coming back. I tidied and cleaned a bit then I walked Charlie before going to singing group. He had been restless, pleased to have me back but kept trying to keep me from typing.
I managed to not be called fat or pregnant at Singing group this week (always a bonus) and we sang a few Christmas carols, which was good and took me back to school assembly. There was a new couple there, which was nice, and the chap had ordered a beer, I’d not realised they had beer so I also ordered one. Kate and Vanessa had not made it but my mom had and we knew most of the Christmas songs between us.
Back at Charlie’s, Captain Caveman and I had beef stew for dinner with the jacket potatoes I’d done in the oven but the spuds didn’t turn out too good. It was nice to be back ‘home’ but it was clear that Captain Caveman wasn’t as pleased that I was. Thankfully, Charlie seemed very happy to see me so at least I was made welcome by one of them.

Dalyan – 10th December

My plan on Saturday 10th December had been to get up early, feed the cats, do a couple of hours work and then walk to Charlie’s or the market to meet Captain Caveman. We’d been looking after Charlie for 10 days now and he really was such a lovely dog. The problem with being in 2 separate houses but trying to maintain a budget is that the food needs to be cooked together then split between the homes. I messaged Captain Caveman but he didn’t answer so I assumed he’d been on his Bridge app until late and was having a lay in. I’d fed all the cats on time and finished the tasks I had for the morning. On the way from Mark and Kate’s place I saw that the nearby building work included putting pipes in to the canals and ditches, it looked a mess and would be awful to walk through in the rain. The 30 minute walk did me good as I didn’t feel as tired once I got there. Captain Caveman was in bed playing Bridge on his phone, Charlie was also snoozing, so there was no trip to the market. I took Charlie out for a short walk round the block to Poo corner then came back for a shower. I could barely get any chat out of Captain Caveman apart from that he was in agreement that we would go to Altın Tava restaurant with my parents for lunch. We’d arranged to meet them at 1.30pm but we were late as Captain Caveman was getting obsessed with playing Bridge on his phone.
When we got near to the restaurant my Mom was stood in the street and Dad was walking about a bit further up. Alton Towers, as they call it, was closed despite my mom having checked with them yesterday. My parents didn’t look too pleased as we had been wanting to go to this place for a while but hadn’t managed it. Instead we made the decision that we would go to Bistro Blue for lunch and we headed off there. We sat inside, as we had left Charlie in the apartment, and we were the only ones there. This was only the second day of them being open for winter and there was no menu yet so Ömer, the waiter, took my Mom and Captain Caveman to the chiller to tell them what they had available to eat. My Dad is not a fan of not having a written menu so he didn’t go over and I had already decided I would try to be healthy. My parents ordered steaks, Captain Caveman chose a burger and I stuck with a chicken shish. The food was very good and I would definitely have the chicken shish again. All the food was nice and my parents said their steaks were delicious. We had drinks but I was conscious I wasn’t going to go too mad as I had more work to start tomorrow and I had to walk back to Mark and Kate’s later.

It started raining so I decided to get my wellies from Charlie’s and pick up some Bolognese before going to feed the cats. I noticed Captain Caveman had decided to open one of our Datça Vineyard wines to put in a slow cooker Bolognese and I was a bit disappointed because I’d hoped we would drink that on a special occasion, or at least together. We did have other red wine in when I left but he’d drank it. I took some food with me to tide me over so that I didn’t have to keep coming all this way to get some meals. The rain was about to come, the forecast wasn’t looking good for tomorrow so it was likely we wouldn’t leave our respective house sitting properties.
I got back to Mark and Kate’s just as the rain was about to lash it down, I had a glass of wine and then later warmed up my Bolognese for dinner.

Dalyan – 8th & 9th December

I had another gift from Bebek at 7.30am on Thursday 8th December, this time it was alive. I asked Kylie to take care of it again and this time she took it in to the garden, killed it and ate it. She then came back in and ate her breakfast while I felt too queasy to eat mine. Captain Caveman joined the Riverbums on his weekly bumming and found some shocking areas of litter, no which is disappointing. As he was out until 2pm it was up to me to put my laptop away and walk to Charlie’s place to keep him company and take him out. When I got there, Charlie was pleased to see me but was very tired from his massive walk yesterday and just wanted belly rubs.

Video of Kylie taking a live rodent away

When Captain Caveman got back we had the BBQ chicken from Tuesday but it was a tad dry. I made extra rice to take to Kate’s with me as we now had my rice cooker in the kitchen at this house. Captain Caveman and I had a walk with Charlie but it looked like rain, when we checked the forecast, 9 wet days were predicted.
Back at Mark and Kate’s I did a meal plan to try to help with the not being able to get proper diet friendly meals because of being so ill prepared. After feeding the cats they decided to play on the stairs and Casha appointed herself as the gatekeeper of who could pass.

There were some planned power outages on Friday 9th December but I wasn’t too sure which areas either of the houses I was at, fell in to. I forgot to set an alarm so all the cats were waiting for breakfast at 7.40am when I finally woke up. I had Yorkshire tea and toast for breakfast then I decided to take my laptop and walk over to Charlie’s as Captain Caveman was out. My 8GB of data I’d bought on 21st November had already run out and the WiFi at Mark and Kate’s only works for me when sat in the living room on the sofa. I prefer to type at a desk where I can have all my materials beside me and no cats helping me. When I arrived at Charlie’s, he was pleased to see me but the power was off. I decided to cut up an apple in to wedges and send a top tip to the Fat Club group on substitute snacks when there’s no electricity. Instead of potato wedges I had apple wedges, without the BBQ sauce I may have had, and that was my lunch. At 12.30 I walked Charlie over to Lukka, where Captain Caveman had been playing bridge. I dropped the pooch off while I nipped home to get my hair conditioner, moisturiser and get weighed. I found my scales said that I’m heavier than the ones at Fat Club and my weekly measurements showed the following;
Bust stayed the same,
Waist -3cm,
Hips -5cm,
Right thigh +1cm,
Right calf stayed the same,
Left thigh -0.5cm,
Left calf -2cm.
At 2pm I went to my last Turkish class of the year where we talked about what our plans for Christmas were, as part of the lesson. It was actually quite reassuring that a lot of the people in the class don’t celebrate it and would just be having a usual day, but I’m sure the teacher must have thought we were a set of miserable buggers.

When I finished class I walked over to Bistro Blue which had now opened on certain days during the winter months. It’s one of our favourites in Dalyan so it was good news and my parents were very happy about it too. Captain Caveman, Charlie and my parents were already there and I was surprised to see my Dad drinking strawberry cider. As they had just opened, we got a bit of a deal on the beers and wine which were only 50 lira each (£2.17) – the cider was 70 lira (£3). The owners Selahı and Annie had the place looking good and it had an awning up and heaters inside. We didn’t go inside because we had Charlie who was loving being able to nosey around. It was quite pleasant being sat outside and it meant that Charlie could say hello to some street dogs. As we were leaving, Annie and Selahı treated us all to a free shot of either amaretto or a minty concoction to celebrate their first day of winter opening.

Instead of going straight back to Mark and Kate’s while it was still sunny, I decided to join Captain Caveman and Charlie for a glass of wine at Waterfall bar on the way to get my laptop and rucksack. Mehmet, at Waterfall, gave everyone jacket potatoes which were delicious. While I went to pick up my bag and order a taxi to go back in time for cat feeding, Charlie was given jacket potato skin which he loved. When I got in, it was a little later than usual but the cats seemed fine with it and settled down indoors after eating. I had broccoli soup which I put pasta in, to be more filling, for my dinner. I was looking forward to a quiet weekend when I got another online project with a deadline of a week so it meant I would be busy this weekend.

Photo credit – use of photos from the Riverbums

Dalyan – 4th December

We had an exciting day planned on Sunday 4th December. Captain Caveman made me a bacon sandwich for my breakfast in bed and Charlie came in to watch me eat it. Then Captain Caveman popped to Migros supermarket and bought a loaf of bread, some mushrooms and 6 beers at a total of 208.85 lira (£9.21). At 11.30am Captain Caveman, Charlie and I were round at Jamie’s villa and we were joining him, Drew, Norman and Edna for a day at the beach. My parents were going to join us at the beach and were getting the midday bus. We all fitted in to Jamie’s car comfortably and we wondered if it was Charlie’s first time in a car. On the way there, Charlie started to feel travel sick so we had to stop for him to get out. When we did get to the beach, Charlie seemed unsure that he was allowed there, off the lead too (dogs aren’t allowed on the beach in the main season) so he was a bit shy. Norman and Edna were used to it and had already started heading towards the water’s edge. Charlie ended up loving the beach but he didn’t go in the sea like Norman and he wasn’t sure how to play fetch the stick like Edna. It was a lovely sunny day and so sweet to see all 3 dogs having a good walk along the beach. We walked a lot, Charlie got loads of exercise and some bonding with Captain Caveman, as he’s not too fond of men. Around 1pm we grabbed some sunny seats at the cafe and I spotted some sunglasses on the floor which turned out to be a Turkish lady’s on the next table. She was grateful and gave us some treats to eat as a way of thanking me. They were delicious and she even gave us some of her homemade pomegranate jam to go with them.
The cafe was still serving food and we had a mixture of toasties, chicken döner sandwiches, chips and soft drinks. Dad had also brought some snacks in case the cafe was closed. Adam had some of his beers too but I wasn’t fancying a beer today.
We left in the car just before my parents, who got the 4.30pm bus back. We had Slimming World red onion soup for dinner and by 9pm Charlie was snoozing away, tired out from his beach day but very happy.
He’s not normally allowed in our room but by 11.30pm he was fast asleep on our bed with his blankie on.

Dalyan – 1st & 2nd December

December in Dalyan started with rain on the morning of Thursday 1st. Captain Caveman brought me a bacon muffin for breakfast in bed, which was delicious. Charlie, the dog, had left us a nice present on the floor of the living room before 8am, I cleaned up, and took him out but he wasn’t a fan of rain so was quite reluctant to walk and just wanted to play. He’d started to get on with Captain Caveman and I well and we spent the whole day figuring each other out and getting used to where things were in our new place. Captain Caveman made a plan to go back to our own apartment once it stopped raining to get food and booze from the fridge which I wasn’t able to carry when I moved in. The owners had kindly left us almost a bottle of wine and the fridge freezer was big enough for us to fit most of our stuff in. At 3.30pm we chanced a short walk with Charlie where he introduced Captain Caveman to Poo corner, a favourite spot for Charlie to do his business!
We had Slimming World pumpkin curry for dinner and hoped for a drier day tomorrow. Charlie started talking to me but I was unsure what he was saying, probably that he wanted some curry.

On Friday 2nd December Charlie had left us another gift in exactly the same place as the last one. I took him for a walk to Poo corner and we saw a Labrador who was off the lead. A dad and his kid were walking a black and white dog on a lead, which the Labrador attacked. Charlie was very scared and tried to run off but I kept him walking as we were far enough away. He came back from his walk very cold, wet and shaking so we decided he could have a duvet morning. Captain Caveman made us bacon and mushroom muffins before he left to go to Bridge club at 10am. I worked on my laptop for the rest of the morning, Captain Caveman finished Bridge about 1pm and he had already been to our place to pick up some stuff and do some washing. I walked Charlie over to Lukka to meet Captain Caveman and on the way the same Labrador from this morning’s walk came out of his gate to try to attack Charlie, I stepped in the way and stopped him. I spoke to the owner and told him of the incident this morning and he agreed to keep the gate closed.
After a hand over of Charlie, the dog, to Captain Caveman at Lukka I went to my Turkish lesson and one of the girls there really had me laughing. She has a Turkish husband and family and had only just realised she had been mixing up the words for ‘interesting’ and ‘disgusting’ at family gatherings! Next week would be the last class until January as our teacher was going to visit her family in the UK. After class, I went to join Captain Caveman who was in Waterfall bar, having met Kate for a drink and to deliver her English goodies. Mark joined us later, saying he had just seen my reprobate parents at Tez bar but they were making their way over to join us. Charlie loved Waterfall bar and had been made very welcome by the owners and customers, including Skippy, the dog. My parents arrived, closely followed by John and Andrea, and they were very merry. When Gay Gaz and Engin arrived, Charlie recognised Gaz and was super excited to see him. He was trying to jump across the table to get to him but when they were reunited Charlie was licking Gaz’s face and smothering him with kisses. It was quite sweet to see Charlie like this, as not many people are that pleased to see Gay Gaz arrive in a bar in Dalyan. Charlie was very well behaved and enjoyed his outing to the pub but we had to get back for dinner. Captain Caveman and I had diet pizzas and an early night. Charlie slept in Helen’s bed with his toy sloth and I hoped that meant he wouldn’t be tempted to shit in the house again.

Dalyan – 26th November

I had a mystery meal defrosting on Saturday 26th November so that I could eat a sensible lunch before I went out. I was busy all morning until lunch time and then worked out what the mystery meal was. It was a chicken casserole so I added roast potatoes and roasted cauliflower to give it a bit of substance. It was delicious and would sort me out for any beer drinking which might (would!) happen. Captain Caveman had been in touch and he’d given me some money to go to the Christmas Fayre with but it came with strict instructions to not buy anything unnecessary. Neither of us like ornaments or trim up for Christmas so there was no chance of that – it was more likely to be spent on food and drink, unsurprisingly.
I’d told friends I would be at Bistro Blue at 2pm and I was already running late so when I arrived some people were there and others not yet. Vanessa and her mother in law were waiting for me and we managed to find a seat, as Diane isn’t too good with her legs. Ann, Jax, Debbie (Darling) and Kate were already there and I briefly said hello. Vanessa ordered a white wine and soda, I had a beer and Diane didn’t order a drink. My parents were running late and when they arrived my mom had a black eye from being drunk lask night. At first she started to tell everyone about her drunken walk in to a door but in the end I said she may as well say Dad hit her (which he didn’t), and no-one seemed to care about that. Kate came over to join us and was keeping an eye out for a tall black guy with dreadlocks, Julius. She did ask a few people if they had seen him and they said they wished they had. Julio (the less tall Welsh man) turned up first and his friends were also joining us later.

I had a little mosey round all the stalls with Kate and there was a lot of stuff for sale. We bought some cheeses and Kate bought a crocheted top. I decided to get some curry from the Spice Garden stall to take home and I also ordered some onion bhajis for us all to share. The afternoon got lively, my parents got tired after overdoing it yesterday and I walked them part way home with the intention of dropping my stuff at home and returning. I got changed and came back out as it was difficult to not get involved with 40 lira Bistro Blue beers and DJs giving it the ‘what for’! Most of the day time people I knew had either gone home or were about to leave but the evening crowd and the hardcore few had arrived already.

There was lots of dancing and I really enjoyed chatting to and dancing with Katrina, Steff, Penny, Eileen, Julio, Toni, Julius and Mark before it got quite messy.
Needless to say a few of us ‘accidentally’ ended up back at Mark and Kate’s for some more shenanigans, despite Kate having gone home before it got dark. I slept in the upstairs room in a single bed with a tremendously warm blanket. Not everyone made it back to Fethiye as planned either so tomorrow was bound to have people with sore heads!

Dalyan – 25th November

On Friday 25th November I did my weekly measurements and found that I had lost a tiny bit more weight on the home scales and a few centimetres from my bust, waist and hips. I treated myself to beans on toast for breakfast using some syns but I didn’t have any lunch. After checking some of the documents I went to my new Turkish class which was very interesting. The students in there had asked for revision of things they had already learned as well as conversational practice which I found useful – especially as I was sure I’d not learned half of it before. After class, I’d let my parents know that I’d be in Lukka at 3.30pm for a glass of vino if they fancied joining me. Seeing as it was Friday and I had achieved 3 alcohol free days and 3 days of spending zero money this week I was out for a treat. I had decided already that I wouldn’t ruin my hard work, though, and limit myself to 3 drinks.
Because Ma & Pa had stayed in for a day due to the weather, Dad was already extra excitable and loud. Maybe he was excited for the England football match that night but my mom had to keep telling him off. Fortunately, Lukka didn’t have many people in at that time so he managed 3 beers without disturbing anyone and was getting louder with each one. Mom had 2 beers and I had 2 glasses of wine. The house red wine in Lukka bar is Buzbağ which has replaced the Tılsım and is served at the perfect temperature for me. My parents fancied one at Tez bar as the sun was gone at Lukka and they hadn’t brought a coat. I said I would go with them but I was only having one because I needed to stick to my diet and was busy tomorrow morning. At Tez there were Penny & Phil, Andy & Kaye, Irena & Wolfie, Jack & Sue – already some of them were quite merry but not a loud as Dad. Tez kindly gave us free walnuts and all was going well with an early evening drink. I’m not sure what happened, exactly, but after my 1 glass of red wine in Tez bar, I decided to go home. My parents didn’t want me to and started calling me boring, surprisingly it was mainly my Mom who was a bit tiddly and on her 4th beer. I’d not seen them both act as lairy in a while and, given the week I’d had, I stuck to my plan and went home at 7.30pm. I thought I’d done well to stick to my 3 wines in 4 hours and knew if I’d stayed out I would have blown all my syns in one night, and my budget! I made myself 2 diet pizzas, this time one with BBQ sauce as a base and got ready for and early night.
I was in bed at 11pm, with my winter socks on for my cold feet, when I got a message from my Mom to say they were eating in Duble. I responded with a thumbs up and went to sleep a bit disappointed to not be out drinking on a Friday night but proud of myself for managing to do it. Tomorrow was a big day as it was the Christmas Fayre and I’d arranged to meet everyone from 2pm.

Dalyan – 20th to 24th November

On Sunday 20th November I had to rectify my diet quick sharp! I had plums and some bread for breakfast, and a tea with milk. Captain Caveman was in Sheffield but I didn’t speak to him so I wasn’t sure if he was catching up with any of my friends, back home.
For lunch I had pasta bolognese and then the rain came down heavily.
For dinner I had something a bit different, bolognese on a wrap, like a pizza, with some cheese. I had no alcohol because I’d had a week’s worth last night!

My day was very productive on Monday 21st November. I was up bright and early, had cereal for breakfast then I bought an 8GB data package for my phone and generally got prepared for a workshop tomorrow morning. I had red onion soup for lunch and planned to go to bed early so that I would have enough sleep before my 3.30am appointment, tomorrow. Tonight, England was playing Iran in the football world cup but I wanted to be asleep before then. I had a lovely jacket potato with bolognese and was about to settle down for the evening when I got a few last minute updates to deal with. Storms were due so I had charged everything up and got a Plan B in place.

I didn’t get to bed until stupid o’clock on Tuesday 22nd November because of all the last minute faffing about with changes for the workshop. I was awake at 2.30am with more last minute updates and horrendous storms outside.
At 3.30am I logged in to the call and I could hear everyone but by 4am, as we were meant to be starting the workshop, there was a technical hitch. I was distraught as I’d spent so much time and effort preparing for this only for me to miss the first part, due to circumstances beyond my control. By 4.30am I could hear everything and had to sit back, watch and listen. The workshop went well and a great set of speakers, who we learned from. By 8am (which was midday in Vietnam) the workshop was finishing and I had my last Yorkshire tea bag in a cup of hot tea to make me feel better. I ate a cheese sandwich, made chicken stock in the slow cooker and was off back to bed.
When I woke back up it was only an hour later and I probably could have gone to singing group but I was super tired and not in the mood. I had some noodles for lunch and got out a hotpot for dinner then went back to bed again. The sun was now out, I couldn’t sleep and by 5.30pm there were flood warnings for the area. I didn’t stay up long after eating dinner and, as I fell asleep that night, the rain had been coming down heavily again.

Wednesday 23rd November started with a nice sunrise at 07:54 and cheese on toast for breakfast (but without a cup of tea). I’d arranged to meet friends at the tea garden to discuss a dog sitting situation that was coming up soon but we cancelled due to more heavy rain. I was in two minds as to whether I would go to Fat Club in such a downpour but I decided no matter how much I had fell off the wagon or been naughty I would go.
I decided not to have lunch before I went and instead had a couple of cups of winter tea, despite it being 24°C in the apartment. When I got on the scales at Fat Club I was pleased to have lost 0.9kg, so I was doing ok. The rain eased off a little so I decided to walk round to my parents’ place. Halfway there the heavy rain came again and I was a bit damp when I arrived. I saw their new toaster, which Chris and Jackie had ordered for them, and they were pleased that Dad no longer had to stick a knife in to get his toast out each morning. I had a beer with my parents and the rain got worse. I eventually decided to go for it and left before 7.30pm, despite my mom saying to stay as it was too wet out. I borrowed an umbrella and once outside I didn’t think it was too bad. When I got home my trousers, shoes and socks were soaked so came straight off. I put my masaman curry on and jumped in the shower to warm up a bit.

I kept Thursday 24th November I saw a post on Instagram for Bistro Blue saying that they were going to be having a Christmas party at the Winter fayre which looked like a good idea. It was cloudy but not rainy today, I messaged my parents and a few friends to let them know about the Christmas party. I had a pasta bake for lunch and by the afternoon the weather was sunny again. For dinner I had beans on toast and some roasted chestnuts later on.
I’d done better than I expected at cutting down on eating and drinking, Captain Caveman was due back on Tuesday so I just had the weekend to get through.