While Captain Caveman had organised another Sunday Walk on Sunday 24th November, I decided to give it a miss. I had so many things on my to-do list that it was getting a bit out of hand. It was only 7°C when Captain Caveman brought me a cup of tea in bed at 7.45am and I didn’t see the sun rise over the mountains until 8.30am.
Captain Caveman was back for lunch and, of course, we had soup with some başlamak bread. I’d been busy cleaning, putting stuff away and making a chicken chasseur in the slow cooker to go with lots of vegetables for a fairly healthy Sunday dinner. The meal was very nice but Captain Caveman was a bit disappointed that I hadn’t had time to make any Yorkshire puddings. I was astounded to find out that Captain Caveman had lived in Yorkshire for years but had never made his own Yorkshire puddings and said he didn’t know how!!! I’d also been preparing social media posts for the coming week as I knew that I was taking tomorrow afternoon off for a bit of a treat and had promised to do Yorkshire puddings tomorrow. I was already on 194 syns so I would try to resist having them but I knew that would be tough.
Captain Caveman had invited a couple of friends round for breakfast at our place on Saturday 23rd November at 10am. I was hungover and Captain Caveman had promised I would make them Pho Ga, chicken noodle soup. Christine, who is a friend from Fat Club too doesn’t even like it that much but she had agreed to come out of politeness and I was absolutely not with it. Usually I would use cooked chicken but it had all gone in to last night’s curry so I had to roast some chicken in the oven while I messed about doing the soup. Luckily, Captain Caveman had got up and cleaned the house after last night’s drinks with Jamie, but we were only just ready when our guests, Christine and Jez, arrived. They very kindly brought us limes, kefir limes, fresh mint and coriander and we drank green tea or Vietnamese coffee with the breakfast. It was not as good as my usual efforts and I think the chillies might have been a bit lively. Regardless of my hangover and me having to polish off pink grapefruit pop to feel a bit better, it was really nice catching up with Jez & Christine. They even gave us a lift to the market after as it did look like rain and I definitely needed to go there this week. Here’s what we bought and the prices in lira;
Total spent at the market this week was only 345.00 lira (£7.97) and I felt like it seemed more expensive than usual for what we bought at stall 3. It was still relatively cheap but I would keep my eye on it over the coming weeks. The new market roof was being built but not ready for the stall holders just yet. We were back home by 1pm and the skies on the walk back were looking very dark – rain was certainly coming. By 2.45pm it was raining quite heavily again so I got on with some work stuff while Captain Caveman played Bridge on his phone. For dinner we had more of what we had last night and it tasted even better the day after, as curries often do.
On Friday 22nd November it looked like the rain and storms were over and we had a glimpse of some sunshine. As I had my cup of tea and some cornflakes, I read a little about an alternative destination in Lapland, called Oulu. Usually visitors at Christmas flock to Rovaniemi but it can be busy and pricey so Oulu was looking like a good option for anyone wanting to go to Finland at Christmas. I’d always fancied it although I thought it would be for kids but this city looked like it had lots to do. It was on my list for the future! Unfortunately, Captain Caveman’s Bridge Club was cancelled so he wasn’t too happy but I managed to find something to keep him from despair! Someone we knew well, wanted us to go and look at a property that was for sale and I needed Captain Caveman to help me find it. I had my reservations as to whether it had been advertised correctly so we decided to go and look without the agent to get an idea of location and condition, just from the outside. It turned out to be very similar to one we had looked at before Captain Caveman had bought Fire Opal. We thought it would be too small for the potential buyers and that it might be overpriced.
It started to rain while we were out but not nearly as bad as it had been yesterday so we persevered and called at the shops. Here’s what we bought and the prices in lira;
Yaman Büfe 2 1 Idol white wine 215.00 1 Idol red wine 215.00 Total spent 430.00 lira (£9.93)
A101 Supermarket 2 packs mini wraps 30.00 lira (69p)
As we passed the bus station, Captain Caveman took a photo of the new timetable for the bus to the beach. There was only the one winter service now, going at 12 noon and returning at 5pm. We bought the usual fresh bread from the bakery across from the bus station and fresh bread is still so cheap in Turkey. We paid just 10 lira (23p) and the bread is very good. As Captain Caveman had free time on his hands, he made us a chicken salad sandwich with sweet potatoes done in the air fryer, for lunch. We messaged back to the UK with photos and videos to the potential property buyers and I asked if they fancied a video call to discuss – they didn’t as they were busy and had also had snow where they were in England.
I carried on with work while Captain Caveman played Bridge on his phone. Tonight our team meeting had been moved from Wednesday so I had invited Jamie round so that we could do it together. Our boss had given strict instructions that, as we were at a team meeting on a Friday night, we should bring a bottle of wine from the country we were in. Jamie and I had no problem with that and he had a bottle of Rituel and I had chosen Idol, both red. Norman and Edna came too and they had cuddles with Captain Caveman while we tried not to get too merry for the team meeting. I’d done a curry in the slow cooker and I’d also made some curried sweet potato samosas to have as a starter with a cucumber, mint, lemon juice and quark dip. Jamie was on a health kick too so I’d made everything Slimming World friendly. We had the samosas before the meeting as Captain Caveman couldn’t wait and I was getting peckish. The meeting went well and we had an update from the bosses about a new website for villas which anyone with luxury holiday villas, in any part of the world, could add on to the site, as a host, to attract customers through Resort Experts. After the meeting we snaffled down the chicken, sweet potato, chickpea and spinach curry with steamed rice and başlamak bread, then finished off the wine. It turned in to quite a night – Jamie, Norman and Edna didn’t leave until gone midnight!
Bumming on Thursday 21st November was cancelled due to the awful rain. Captain Caveman didn’t have a morning activity so it was a quiet day at home. Jamie came over to collect Norman and Edna and he had to put the dog bed in a bin liner to keep it dry just going to the car. Captain Caveman and I reassured Jamie that Norman and Edna had been more than happy at our place so they would be fine to stay with us while he went on his next holiday in a few day’s time. The rain kept coming as we warmed up last night’s leftovers for lunch. I made a meal plan and looked at our budget for the rest of the month and things were very tight. It didn’t stop me from looking up holidays that I would like to go on, though! I worked, I blogged, I made a list of all what we needed to pay for between now and the end of the year – depressing, but necessary. It was now over 3 months since I had a wage coming in and almost 2 months since Captain Caveman had got paid. Luckily, we don’t celebrate Christmas but if we did, it would certainly have been cancelled. I felt lucky to be in Turkey where we didn’t need to celebrate the festivities as I know most people in the UK do. When the rain got even heavier, I went upstairs to check the bathroom and found we had some very small leaks in both bathrooms and a damp patch in the spare room. I mopped up and cleaned the floors then put dry towels down to catch any more leaks. I put the winter quilt on our bed and did some more cleaning in our bedroom. Captain Caveman made pasta for dinner and we had a dog-walk free evening, even though we were both missing the dogs already.
Captain Caveman took the dogs out early on Wednesday 20th November and then we both got weighed. Even though Captain Caveman wasn’t actually on a diet, he had agreed to support me on my healthier lifestyle by eating the same as me, if not just a little bit more than me in terms of portion size. I had stayed the same weight as last week on the home scales, my bust and waist measurements also remained the same but I had put on 2cm on my hips. Captain Caveman had lost 1.15kg (2.5lb) and was now under the 80kg mark. As his schedule is free on Wednesdays, Captain Caveman had previously said he would look after Norman and Edna while I went out to Turkish class, which I ended up being late to. Today it was held at The Pier which is a lovely new restaurant. I had already been warned that a coffee could cost up to 200 lira (£4.59) there so I had decided I wouldn’t buy a drink. An hour’s Turkish lesson is less than that and buying unnecessary drinks soon adds up. The Pier was very lovely, though, and I thought it looked like a great venue to bring family and friends when they come to visit.
On the way back home, I spotted a dead snake on the pavement and took a photo to try to identify it later, but it was upside down. At Fire Opal it was evident that the painting was finished but the cleaning up after, wasn’t included in their work! Once again it was soup for lunch, a dog walk with both of us and then I was off to Fat Club.
Miraculously, I had lost 0.2kg (0.4lb) and meant I only had just over 2kg (4.4lb) left to lose to hit my target. The app we were using was still showing I had the body of a 58 year old though, down from 61 at least. Carol was off to the UK for 3 weeks so she had asked me to hold the fort for her. I was honoured and hoped it might be a bit of motivation to actually keep on track and not lapse while she was gone. Carol dropped me off at mine with the precious scales and all the books. For dinner we had a Slimming World friendly chicken and leek bake with pasta and it was so tasty, washed down with a bottle of white wine between us. We went to bed that night, having walked the dogs and told them Little Daddy, Jamie, was on his way home right now. Tomorrow he would be picking them both up and we would be responsibility free once again.
Captain Caveman had reached the halfway point of his 90 day stay in Turkey on Tuesday 19th November. I took the dogs out for their morning stroll, gave them breakfast and made my own cup of tea. I then went to the shop and bought Captain Caveman some more coffee beans as he was desperate for coffee now that the Vietnamese one was gone. Here’s what I bought and the prices in lira;
Wow, coffee was dearer than I expected. I had my breakfast of cornflakes and got on with my to-do list while Captain Caveman went to Bridge Club. After a lunch of soup and both of us doing a dog walk, I carried on with my work and Captain Caveman played Bridge on his phone. I got a weather warning on Facebook that said the area was about to start to get some more rain in the next few days and I thought this typical, especially with dogs to keep warm and dry. We both walked the dogs in the evening as Captain Caveman needed to put the bins out but rain was imminent.
For dinner we had a lovely treat when Captain Caveman made a roast chicken dinner with vegetables, and rosé wine but no Yorkshire puddings. The dogs weren’t given any on account of Norman having a sensitive tum and Edna being on a diet but it didn’t stop them trying to get a morsel. I did more social media post scheduling for my Resort Experts Facebook page in the evening. I did the dog walk late at night on my own as Captain Caveman had done the washing up (again). When I totted up my syns for this week I was on 313 and was definitely not going to be getting a loss at Fat Club tomorrow – why do I always forget to be better on a Tuesday!?
On Monday 18th November Captain Caveman got up at 7.30am with the alarm and went to take the dogs out for a short walk, then brought me a cup of tea in bed. It was definitely getting chilly in a morning now and I needed to think about putting a winter duvet on the bed soon. Before I had already got dressed, I had checked out holidays on TUI, Jet2Holidays, EasyJet, Classic Collection and JTA Holidays. I also put a post on my social media from the Lake House in Phong Nha and it got quite a lot of engagement. Looking at all the holidays I had access to, was definitely making me have itchy feet again and I was keen to get on and do well so that I could book more trips with friends, family and Captain Caveman – I had already seen loads that were now on my wish list. I fed the dogs, I had some cornflakes for breakfast and then Captain Caveman and I walked towards the dog shelter together, with Norman & Edna. After seeing Captain Caveman off, me and the dogs turned back and came home. I looked at more work related stuff including a glass igloo hotel in Finland. The dogs napped until just after midday when I decided to make pasties with the filo pastry and left over chicken fajita and chicken & mushroom. Captain Caveman came back from dogging and had enjoyed walking lots of dogs, including Coffee and Charlie Brown. We ate the pasties with red vegetable soup and then I added more items to my to-do list, despite still not having finished the one I had yet. In the afternoon, Captain Caveman played Bridge on his phone and wouldn’t join me walking the dogs as he said he’d done enough dog walking already today. For dinner we had left over spag bol and I had a moan at Captain Caveman that we don’t tend to do much together and I wasn’t looking forward to continuing like that for the next 6 weeks, until he had to leave. He replied that he was quite happy with us not doing things together and even said it would be a good idea in the future to have separate holidays so that he could go on Bridge trips and I could go with my friends doing things I enjoyed. Luckily, neither of us were in a position to be planning any holidays, anyway, so we watched a film called Demolition and Captain Caveman fell asleep with the dogs, missing the end.
Captain Caveman had changed the walk on Sunday 17th November to an easy one as the one he had planned would have been slippery and wet after last night’s storm. He was up early and took the dogs out for their walk first and then brought me a cup of tea in bed. My weather app predicted more rain today but Captain Caveman has more weather apps that said it was going to be fine. Once I had fed the dogs and Captain Caveman had his breakfast and left for the walk, I put all the ingredients for a bolognese in the slow cooker. I also made myself a pho for breakfast and really enjoyed it before getting on with work, as well as doing some writing I needed to do. I added more items to the shopping list and, when Captain Caveman got back from his walk we had cheese sandwiches for lunch. The Sunday Walk had turned out to be a good one and they hadn’t had the rain predicted. I could’ve gone but I had the dogs to look after and it was too far for their little legs to manage.
I had a bit of a mission that I needed to carry out in the afternoon as I had agreed to update Matt, Vanessa’s husband’s, Play Station at their apartment. I decided it would be a good idea before I got on the phone with Matt to go round (I had a key) to their apartment and check I could switch on the electric and that the internet would work. Captain Caveman and I took a dog each and did a walk along the way, when we arrived at Vanessa and Matt’s I realised there are cats living there so Norman and Edna had to wait outside the gate with Captain Caveman. I got in the apartment and found the meter to switch on but while I was there I heard the neighbour, shouting me. I came downstairs and she said that her and Captain Caveman had heard me shouting – I had not uttered a word. I went back up and as I reached their apartment door, it was closed and the key was inside. Oh shit, I was in a dilemma and had already sent Captain Caveman and the pooches off back home. I messaged Vanessa to tell her what had happened. Luckily, there was a spare key and all was ok. Not even an hour later, I had logged in to the device, followed Matt’s instructions over the phone and sorted it out. I’d even learned a new skill of being able to use a Play Station controller, which was a first for me – a man definitely invented that gadget! On the way back home, I called at the shop for a few essentials and here’s the details;
Migros Supermarket 1 pack of filo pastry 54.95 1kg Sweet potatoes 73.10 A 1.6kg chicken 124.40 400g of beef mince 191.96 Total spent 444.41 (£10.17)
Of course, the beef mince was expensive but I didn’t realise that I had got it at a better discount than it should’ve been as I chose the 7% fat as opposed to the 20% fat, but still got it for the same price as the fattier meat. That evening we had Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner with some red wine and we took the dogs out together. Norman and Edna were reluctant to go out but I think it was because they knew it was rainy/stormy. I had a video call with Vanessa and she updated me on everything she had done since leaving Dalyan, 12 days ago. Her trip to Istanbul had been good and she was glad to be back in the UK. While we were on the call, my Resort Experts Facebook page had hit 10,000 views and it had not been active a month yet, so I was pleased things were taking off a little bit. Downstairs, I got relegated to the sofa where I get a stiff neck if watching TV, while Captain Caveman and the dogs comfortably took the other sofa. By 10pm, all 3 of them were fast asleep and snoring away.
Photo credit – some photos taken by people on the SundayWalk, including Captain Caveman
I walked Norman & Edna on the morning of Saturday 16th November and left Captain Caveman in bed. It had meant to have been the day of the Dalyan Christmas fayre but it had been postponed due to the forecast rain – and rain it did!! We managed to not get soaked and I fed the dogs their breakfast which they absolutely wolfed down. By 9am the dogs were napping on the sofa and I had tea and toast for breakfast. I thought we would be going to the weekly market this week so I made a list, which only had a few things on. Captain Caveman was still in bed, probably playing Bridge, and I was starting to worry a bit more about him now. We didn’t bother with the market in the end. I did a bit of work and I suggested a walk with the dogs to get us both away from phones and laptop. We didn’t go too far as it was about to rain and when I got back, we had a message from Jamie to say he was in Bulgaria already. I cracked a wasted joke about uncles and the Wombles on Edna’s behalf. We had soup for lunch and I got back on with work while Captain Caveman played Bridge and stroked the snoozing dogs. At 2.50pm the rain eased off a bit and I wandered round to say bye to my parents who were leaving for the airport at 3pm. Captain Caveman stayed with napping Norman and Edna as we were not really sure whether to leave them alone at our place yet. When I got to my parents, I was chatting to Mom but Dad was already on a mission to leave so he didn’t really speak much. The taxi was early so, of course, Dad had to rush to go to it and we said a quick bye at the gate. Mom and I were a little teary but Fikri, the driver, made us laugh. It’s always harder when you can’t say ‘see you in so many weeks/months’. As I walked back to Fire Opal a stray dog spotted me and came to lick my hand as I tried not to cry. The rain came down and I was home, having said bye to the stray by 3.05pm. The evening walk was less dry and only I went with Norman and Edna, all 3 of us ending up absolutely soaked and having to use 2 of our bath towels and my travel towel to dry the dogs. They were looking very sorry for themselves and were definitely adding this to the complaint list. I made Slimming World style pizza wraps after feeding the dogs their dinner first. The dogs slept in their bed in our downstairs, while Captain Caveman and I were upstairs but there was a bad storm and I wondered if they would settle ok.
Friday 15th November was my parents’ last day in Dalyan, as they were off back home to Sheffield tomorrow. I was feeling a bit sad as I had no idea of when I would see them again and hated not being able to plan. They had been here since late September and I felt like I’d not seen them as much this time in Dalyan. To make up for not seeing my parents in bars and restaurants, as we chose to stay home, I had invited them over for dinner for their last night. Captain Caveman brought me a cup of tea in bed and asked if I was ok – he doesn’t usually enquire about feelings so he could tell I was sad. Luckily, he knew to remind me that I would soon be cheered up as I had a couple of visitors on their way. Captain Caveman went to Bridge Club, I got up and ate my overnight oats for breakfast but was still in my lounge wear when the doorbell rang. Jamie was here with Norman and Edna and they were super excited to see me. The dogs were going to be staying with us, even though we aren’t allowed dogs on the complex so we had to keep them in our apartment and not let them bother anyone. Jamie didn’t stop long, he dropped off 2 leads, 2 food bowls, 1 water bowl, medicine, food, a few poo bags and a dog bed. By 10.35am both Norman and Edna had found a comfy spot each on the sofa while I did some work. When Captain Caveman returned, we ate cheese and olives and leek & potato soup for lunch before taking the dogs for a quick walk. At home, Norman and Edna live in a villa and are used to saying when they want to go in the garden but at our place we are on the first floor so it’s not as easy to let them out. Once back home, I went out a couple of times, once to the bank, then to find Captain Caveman some ground coffee – he had almost run out of the Vietnamese one and I imagine he would miss not having that. I found some alternatives in Migros but, given I never drink coffee, I took photos and came back to check before buying any. Here’s what I did buy, prices in lira;
Migros Supermarket 1.2kg Carrots 32.44 Chocolate cakes 34.50 15 eggs 79.50 A 1.6kg Chicken 126.00 Total spent 272.44 lira (£6.23)
Yaman Bufe 2 2 bottles of Idol wine 430.00 1 bottle of Isabey wine 215.00 Total spent 645.00 lira (£14.76)
While Captain Caveman played Bridge on his phone and cuddled the dogs, I spent the afternoon doing a bit of work and then preparing for dinner with my parents. As the electricity had been on and off, I almost didn’t get any Yorkshire puddings in but Captain Caveman helped me get them done in the air fryer. We walked the dogs again and took them via my parents so we could walk back with them to ours. Norman and Edna were really pleased to see Granny Annie and Grandpa Stupot, as we affectionately call my parents. Edna was so excited and wanted some wine but Little Daddy (Jamie) had put her on a diet and neither dog was allowed any treats. As Norman already had the runs we kept them on water and no snacks – they were likely to put in a complaint. The rest of us took advantage of wine and a roast chicken dinner, although Mom really was taking it easy and only had a couple of wines with soda all night. They were flying at 6.25pm tomorrow and she didn’t want to be hungover to go to the airport. We had a lovely evening and I was disappointed after my parents left that none of us took any photos of our last night together. Before bed, we took out Norman and Edna for another toilet walk, just around a block or two. It was cold out and we all were pleased to get back indoors.
There was some excitement on Thursday 14th November as my parents and I had arranged for the 4 of us to meet up and go out for a bit of a treat. I had Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) for breakfast and a cup of green tea. Captain Caveman was Bumming and would be rushing to get back in time for the taxi. I went to the bank and noticed that our neighbour in A Block and her painter team were hard at the painting, even Aslı herself was getting handy with a paintbrush. I decided to wear a red dress and my fancy jelly shoes, the ones Khanh Linh, in Phong Nha, had bought me as a gift and they looked a bit more respectable than my porter sandals. It was great that it was the middle of November but still warm enough in the day to have bare legs.
My parents had arranged for Fikri to pick them up and we were meant to be at theirs in time but as we dashed over there, we met the taxi. We drove over to Yalıcapkanı restaurant, which translates to Kingfisher, and has had a recent refurb. I’ve not been there for a while and they only had certain things left on the lunch menu as they were changing the menu as of that evening. We were lucky to be the only customers in the restaurant because we had gone for a late lunch.
For starters we each chose something and shared it all; mezes including a chickpea and red pepper dip, artichoke, atom with chillies and liver with red onion. We were given warm bread, oil and cheese to go with it and it all tasted amazing. Captain Caveman drank beer while the rest of us ordered a glass each of wine, which was very nice and cost 220 lira (£5) per glass. For mains we had a limited choice because each of our first choices weren’t available. Dad had wanted lasagne but plumped for the chicken with mash, my mom chose seafood linguine, while Captain Caveman and I both had the meatballs. The waiter and other staff were very nice, even told my Dad he had ordered the best dishes, and took a photo of us all.
It was so sunny in the light and airy, newly decorated restaurant and we also had a walk around the grounds after our food. We perused the dessert menu and all ended up choosing either Goat’s milk ice cream (Captain Caveman and Mom) or a cheese cake. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch, including the pomegranate cheesecake, and was glad that our last meal out with my parents had been so good. The waiter had been right about my dad’s choice as the chicken was excellent. The cost for 4 of us with a drink, starters, mains and desserts came to 5,000 lira (£114.42) so just under £30 per person, not bad for a 3 course lunch out at a beautiful place.
We waited for the taxi while watching some turtles have an orgy, which is always nice! Back at home the painting of the outside of the complex was making the place look much better. Captain Caveman had been away from his Bridge for too long so he spent the rest of the day doing that. We didn’t bother with any dinner that evening, as we were full. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day as we had visitors coming.
There was no Turkish class on Wednesday 13th November as our teacher was on a holiday, which gave me a couple of hours free to do my blogging. It was a lovely sunny day in Dalyan as I got on the home scales and took my measurements. Surprisingly, I had lost 1.05kg (2.3lb) on the home scales but, as we know, I had to wait until this afternoon to get on Carol’s scales at Fat Club. My measurements were very favourable with 2cm off my chest, 1cm off my waist and 3cm off my hips. Captain Caveman had only lost 0.05kg this week and I think he expected more, as did I. It was definitely making a difference us not drinking alcohol so much and it was helping to lose the weight. As I left the house that day, Aslı (from A Block) and her painter friends were doing some cutting down of the bushes that the gardener had not done last month, so that the painting could be done. There was a young boy doing some painting with his mother and an older grandmother sat supervising – it looked like Aslı had a whole family doing the painting. They had cut down quite a lot of the bushes and put them at the bottom of the steps and gate to our apartment. Luckily, I could pick up the branches and move them to get out of the house because I was meeting with a clothes buyer. This lady bought another item and we had a good chat before I nipped for a bit of shopping. Here’s what I bought with the prices in lira;
Back at home, I had a chicken wrap with lettuce and cabbage in it and then popped back out to meet another clothes buyer. The lady was coming to buy a dress but it didn’t fit, she did try on a couple of others and ended up buying 2 dresses, instead of the one she came for.
In the afternoon I went confidently to Fat Club thinking I would have lost 1kg, as I had this morning at home. Unfortunately, I had lost only 0.15kg (0.3lb) which was quite poor but still a loss. I still had 2kg to lose to reach my target and it was proving difficult. I didn’t help myself, though, as I went to the shop on the way home and bought some treats, here’s the prices in lira;
For dinner, Captain Caveman made chicken fajitas which were really nice and we used Quark instead of sour cream. At 8pm it was the Resort Experts team meeting and we had some training on Costa Blanca and learned about a luxury villa website that Resort Experts were launching soon. We were going to be able to ask villa owners we knew around the world to list their properties so that we could offer these to any customers looking to book a luxury villa for their 2025 holidays. I already had a couple in mind from Vietnam and Thailand which I hoped would be suitable to be added. Jamie and I also decided that we were off to Costa Blanca at some point next year.
I had my usual cup of Yorkshire tea in bed on Tuesday 12th November and waited until Captain Caveman had eaten his breakfast and gone to Bridge Club. I made veggie egg fried rice again for my breakfast and then got on with more work. I was finding that friends from old jobs and people I had met travelling were getting in touch now for enquiries on various destinations and I had started to look into more themed types of holidays that I could help with. As I sipped my green tea I was looking at all different countries and destinations, many of them I had been to myself. Despite having worked in social media content creation for some time, it was still taking some time to get my new Resort Experts page seen so I was asking all my friends to like and follow to improve this. I got notification that I had hit the 100 reactions to my posts in the last month, but I needed more! If you have Facebook please follow and like my Resort Experts page, here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567498001133&mibextid=ZbWKwL
For lunch we had bread, olives and leek & potato soup and I was hoping I had done enough this week to have a loss at Fat Club tomorrow. Captain Caveman very kindly decided to chop some vegetables for me to cook for dinner as he had decided he would be making a pasta sauce base. In the evening we had a chicken dinner with garlic, potatoes, carrots, onions and cabbage. I temporarily forgot that it was the night before weigh in and Captain Caveman and I decided to share a bottle of white wine, thus ending the week on 163 syns – would that mean I didn’t lose any weight this week!?
There was a planned power cut on Monday 11th November but we couldn’t work out whether our street was 9am to 1pm or 2pm to 5pm. I decided to have a veggie egg fried rice for my breakfast before the electric went off, so that I wouldn’t be too hungry at lunch. Captain Caveman had already had his, played some bridge and then left around 10am for Dogging. I did some writing as it’s something I don’t need to be connected to the internet or have power for. The electric didn’t go off until lunch time and it was fortuitous that I had prepared a salad for lunch. When he returned from Dogging, Captain Caveman had a shower and then we went to the shops – here is what we bought, prices in lira;
Şok Supermarket Wraps (lavaş) 43.50 Kitchen roll 65.00 630g chicken breasts 132.30 Olive oil 245.00 Total spent 485.00 lira (£10.97)
Green Grocers Red peppers 90 lira (£2.04)
In Turkey, olive oil is known for being pricey but kitchen roll is so cheap! Our salad was rather good and Captain Caveman added boiled eggs to his. The electricity came back on after only a short time and I managed to have a hot drink while doing some more work on the laptop. We both went back to the shop later, as I needed a break from my screen, here’s the details of what we got and the prices in lira;
Migros Supermarket 2 bags pasta 23.50 Green peppers 67.95 Feta style cheese 74.75 Ricotta style cheese 79.90 Sucuk 95.90 4 tins of tomatoes 119.80 1kg Melty cheese 244.90 Total spent 706.70 lira (£15.99)
Unfortunately, cheese can be expensive in Dalyan, with just the melty stuff costing a third of the total bill. We were also being even more frugal than usual as an unplanned for amount of money had to be paid without much notice. Captain Caveman had agreed to give 5,000 lira (£113) to Aslı, our neighbour in A Block. She had quoted all the owners a total of over £1,000 for the whole block to get the external garden walls painted. I’d have done it myself if I’d known how much it would be! When we came back in from the shops the painter looked like he had made a start. Captain Caveman didn’t seem too put out at the cost but I wish we’d got other quotes to compare. For dinner, Captain Caveman made us a pasta dish which is always really tasty.
Captain Caveman’s alarm went off at 7.30am on Sunday 10th November and he was up out of bed prompt. I looked at the weather forecast and it looked a bit cooler and like it might rain. When I checked outside it was dry and, as I was awake so early, I decided I would join Captain Caveman and my parents on the Sunday Walk today. I borrowed one of Captain Caveman’s jackets in case it did rain and we left the house just after 8.30am. As I got down the stairs the rain started and I put the orange coat on, but Captain Caveman reassured me that it wouldn’t be heavy rain. There were still a fair few attendees for the Sunday Walk and we waited under the shelter of the Kaunos Tea Gardens for any last minute arrivals. Even though Captain Caveman posts the event on the Dalyan in Winter Facebook group, he rarely knows who, if anyone, is definitely coming so he only waits for people past 9am if he knows a person is coming. In my experience most people who turn up don’t say they are coming, in case they decide not to on the day.
Today was also the anniversary of Ataturk’s death so at 9.05am the sirens sounded and all the Turks stood still and silent. We also honoured this observation before setting off on the walk, mainly out of respect and because of a short downpour. The walk went better and quicker than I thought it would, with a bit of intermittent rain. It was actually nice to walk without being hot and sweaty. Back at the tea gardens, Captain Caveman and I shared a cheese and onion toastie and we both had a tea. When I looked over to my parents, Dad was on the Efes Malt and it was only 11.30am on a Sunday – he had not realised it was still morning!
Back home we had more lunch, soup yet again (I was determined to hit that weight target by the end of the year). I worked all afternoon and then sorted us out with some curry and steamed rice for dinner. Tomorrow there was notification of a planned power cut in the morning, so I was glad that I had worked on a Sunday until gone 11pm and could have a rare lay in.
Photo credit – some of the Sunday Walk taken by Captain Caveman
joloyolo 