Dalyan – 8th & 9th February

On Sunday 8th February Norman’s tummy was much better and he’d not had any mishaps, which I was grateful for. I did some work first then did breakfast and tea. I worked all day and just had a warmed up sweet and sour chicken with rice for a late lunch/early dinner.
It was now less than 2 weeks untill Captain Caveman was arriving. Even though it was a Sunday, I still worked and and only popped out when I walked Norman. I forgot I’d opened the wine yesterday, so it ended up being a zero alcohol and zero spend day.

Gratitude List
1. Norman
2. Zero spend day
3. Nice food.

Monday 9th February was a busy day which started with me catching Norman chomping on cat shit which he’d dragged out of the gravel. I had my usual tea and toast then shoved some ingredients in the slow cooker to make a curry for lunch. I worked all morning and in the afternoon I spoke to a couple of customers and a colleague before having a late lunch.
As it was the Tet holiday in Vietnam, and the year of the horse was about to begin, I found a photo of me on a horse so that I could wish all my Vietnamese friends ‘Chúc Mừng Năm Mới’, next week. The photo was taken by Murat from when I’d joined my sister, brother-in-law and 2 nieces on a horse riding trip, not far from Dalyan. Not only was it the year of the horse starting on the 17th of this month, but it was a Fire Horse. Here’s some info about what that mean if you believe in the zodiac signs;
Key Themes & Predictions for 2026
The Fire Horse Energy: The rare combination of Fire and Horse signifies rapid progress, passion, and intense, sometimes volatile, energy that can feel like a “wildfire” if not managed.
Career & Finance: A strong year for leadership, creativity, and ambitious, fast-moving, and risky career moves, particularly in tech or media.
Relationships & Health: While a year of high excitement, it is also a “clash” year for Horses, which may lead to instability or break-ups in relationships. It is crucial for everyone to practice emotional steadiness, manage stress, and avoid overthinking.
Advice: Focus on calculated risks, and “control the changes” by celebrating milestones like weddings or new babies to counter potential instability.
Lucky Elements: Red is a favourable colour; incorporating “cool” elements (like travelling to colder, northern, or western regions) may help balance the fiery energy.
I finished at 8.30pm and it had been a long day so I decided to eat cheese and biscuits for dinner with a couple of glasses of red wine to finish off the wine I’d bought on Saturday and forgotten to finish. I’d had another zero spend day which I was pleased about and was hoping for another one tomorrow too.
Tonight was my last one with Norman as Jamie & Drew were back tomorrow afternoon.

Gratitude List
1. Good food
2. Another 5 Star review
3. Norman.

Dalyan – 6th & 7th February

I woke up early on Friday 6th February and it had been raining all night. Norman had to go out in the rain in the morning so he was a bit miffed. The pool was almost overflowing and it was very blustery out there. I worked all day and got another review for Resort Experts which I was pleased about as they can definitely make a difference and help customers who don’t know me decide on whether to come to me to book.
For lunch I had leftover teriyaki chicken with steamed rice and then decided to take Norman for an early walk while the rain was temporarily stopped.
We didn’t go far and once we’d got past my parents’ place, Norman insisted we turn round and go back. He knew the rain was coming and we got in just before another massive downpour. I made halloumi pasta with pesto for dinner and then did some blog post scheduling while Norman snored loudly next to me on the sofa. I’d had another no spend day and I was under target if I managed not to spend anything again tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. Good food
2. Another good review.
3. Norman.

Saturday 7th February didn’t start in the best way that it could have but I was glad I’d not had to deal with it hungover! I’d come downstairs just after 7am and was greeted by quite a bit of doggy diarrhoea. Poor Norman had gone back to bed after attempting to spray ‘paint’ the living/dining area with runny poo. It smelled disgusting and I had to put him out on the terrace while I donned the rubber gloves and cleaned it up. Poor Norman watched as I got to work and seemed a little regretful that he’d managed to get a bit on Dennis, the doggy doorstop.
I was convinced it was due to him having licked and tried to eat cat shit, plus it was the first Peanut Paw snack he’d had in a week yesterday. Norman came back in to a wet wipe wash down and a spray or 2 of cologne before he was allowed his breakfast. I put egg in his breakfast to try to rectify the runs. As he’s nearly 15 years old, he didn’t get a telling off just a reassurance of not to worry and a video for Little Daddy and Step Daddy Drew who were still enjoying the last days of their cruise holiday.
I worked in the morning on quoting a customer on a Wendy Wu escorted tour, there was a sale on so it made the prices pretty good for February bookings. I was definitely getting more traction on enquiries and bookings in February 2026 were already more than last year’s.
Around lunch time I nipped to the shop and bought a bottle of wine for later at 300 lira (£5.08), and a loaf of bread and an açma for lunch as a treat. I spent just 30 lira (51p) in the bakery and decided not to to go to the market today. I did this for several reasons; I had food in still, it was peeing it down with rain and I wanted to stay on track for spending less than £30 this week. I totted up my spending for the week and I was doing fine. So far this month I had spent 1,532.14 lira (£25.97) and I had £65.03 left to last me until the end of the 21st!
I had another call with a potential customer in the afternoon and I used a page from The Handy Travel Planner when they asked me what information I needed to know to find them a suitable holiday for the family.
I ended up working until gone 9pm on a Saturday night! Then I watched something on TV while eating bread and cheese for dinner with some red wine.

Gratitude List
1. Norman not shitting on the rugs
2. Wine
3. Cheese.

Dalyan – 4th & 5th February

The home scales on Wednesday 4th February showed I’d put on 0.6kg (1.3lb) which wasn’t good. My measurements also were not great as my hips and waist had remained the same but I’d put 2cm on my bust! I had tea and toast then got on with work before it was time to go to Fat Club.
I should really have had another no spend day yesterday and used today for the shopping day, as I knew I was going to be having a drink at Fat Club today. We’d changed venues to try Ren Garden, given that the prices of drinks at the Caria Hotel had increased. I got weighed to find Carol’s scales were not kind and I’d actually put on 0.65kg (1.4lb). Ironically, I then decided I would have a glass of red wine for 140 lira (£2.37) and I couldn’t resist taking a cookie home which cost 100 lira (£1.69). Thus spending more than I would have at the old Fat Club venue.
I got back and took Norman out for a walk without it raining, which was nice and then he had his dinner with extra pasta in, as I had a veggie pasta dish and that amazing chocolate chip cookie. I did more work in the evening.
I spoke to Captain Caveman around 9.30pm and we were on countdown to his arrival in 16 days. Norman snored for the rest of the evening, comfortably on the sofa.

Gratitude List
1. Treats at the new Fat Club venue
2. Speaking to Captain Caveman
3. Norman.

On Thursday 5th February Norman had taken to finding and licking or eating cat shit in the garden. The water levels had gone down after a dry day, exposing quite a bit of cat shit in the gravel and Norman was like a kid in a sweet shop!
After tea and toast, I popped back to get the washing in I’d hung out yesterday, while it wasn’t raining. Today the skies were grey again and rain was forecast to start this afternoon until Tuesday, when Jamie & Drew were due back to Dalyan.
I worked all day, stopping off for a lunch break where I warmed up some leftover curry and read a lovely review from a customer.
At 4.30pm the rain looked imminent so Norman and I rushed out for a walk – it was quite blustery and Norman wasn’t that happy about it!
For dinner, I made teriyaki chicken with noodles which was very tasty. I worked in the evening and today was another zero spend day, which I was pleased about and I’d planned to stay in and work all weekend.

Gratitude List
1. Good food
2. Resort Experts review
3. Norman.

Dalyan – 3rd February

Amazingly, the sun came out on Tuesday 3rd February so Norman and I were both really pleased about that. I’d been doing well with the Frugal February so far and I had just 1 week left until Jamie & Drew came back. After a few hours of work, tea and toast for breakfast, my pen ran out just as I came to the end of my notepad – which was weird! I decided to go for a walk and call at the shops for new ones. Here’s what I spent, prices in lira, still keeping the budget in mind;

Dalyan Stationers

2 pens 100
2 notebooks 200
Total spent 300 lira (£5.08)

I could have bought just 1 of each but decided I would have spares for next time, even though I could’ve saved spending £2.54.

Migros Supermarket

Wholemeal bread 99.50
2 Quark 111.90
Fabric Softener 116.95
900g chicken breast 193.99
4 tins tomatoes 199.80
Total 722.14 lira (£12.24)

I decided to pop in to the supermarket as I wanted a sliced wholemeal loaf and some chicken. While there, I spotted they had fabric softener on offer for the 1440ml, large size (which I had run out of) and they had restocked the tins of tomatoes. Tinned tomatoes are like rocking horse shit here, in the winter, so I grabbed 4 – again, not an essential but I like to get them when I see them. I dropped the tomatoes and softener off at home and took the rest of the stuff back with me to Jamie’s.
Norman was loving being back outside too but there seemed to be a lot of cats around, which he wasn’t keen on. We had a lovely walk, with no rain too.
I worked until 9.30pm, including some stuff for my next book, and had a chicken, chickpea and spinach curry for dinner.

Gratitude List
1. Shopping for non essentials but still being within my budget
2. A walk in the sun
3. Norman.

Dalyan – 2nd February

I decided to have a no spend day on Monday 2nd February, I didn’t need to buy anything or go anywhere as I had a big to do list. I had not had much sleep as the storm during the night had kept me awake and there had been hail as big as marbles! Norman put in another complaint about the weather but he cheered up once he’d had a corner of toast, despite being rather damp. It was also very cold as I worked all morning with Norman in his bed beside me. I broke off at 2pm for lunch and had warmed up leftover sausage casserole. At 5pm Norman and I went for a soggy walkies through lots of puddles. In the evening I did some more work, sponsored a friend for a marathon she was running and had some messages from Captain Caveman who was getting prepared for a sponsored cycling (300km) event in Vietnam next month. He was paying for his own flights, fees and everything for the trip but anyone who sponsored him would have all of their money going directly to benefit children in Vietnam with Saigon Children’s Charity. They’ve already built over 200 schools, including one in the village where Captain Caveman used to work. You can read more about them here: https://share.google/FOjpUky4K5Ep3T3s2
It did make me think I should do something for charity in the future, as I didn’t really have the time or money right now but that was another goal for later in the year and definitely for 2027. I certainly couldn’t run a marathon or cycle 300km but maybe a 5km walk would be a start.
At 9pm I had a call with a couple of friends who were one of my favourite customers and had booked their third holiday with me. They were off to Morocco on my recommendation and we had a great catch up of things to do/see, what to avoid etc, to help them get the most out of their anniversary break to Marrakech.
Before bed I asked ChatGPT to do me a caricature picture or 2 of me that showed what I did for work and it was quite good. At this point I was unaware of the trend of using your actual face to do this.

Gratitude List
1. Norman
2. Leftover sausage casserole
3. A call with friends to chat about Marrakech.

Dalyan – 1st February

It was the first day of my Frugal February on Sunday 1st February and I’d also planned to take the day off. I had given myself a mission to spend less than £91 (5,369 lira) in 3 weeks. The exchange rate throughout February would get nearer to 60 lira to the pound – the highest I’d known it. I’d already pretty much cut out non-essential purchases from my lifestyle for most of the last year or more, but now I was really going to test myself (hopefully). Captain Caveman would arrive for the last week of February and we would spend normally then – and have a bit of a treat or two.
I had another 10 days left with Norman and he was doing well despite the wettest winter I’d had in Dalyan. The forecast didn’t look much better for the next week and I could guarantee it would probably fine up, the day that Jamie returned!
After tea and toast with Norman, who promptly fell asleep after his corner of toast, I checked my blog stats. January had 24% more views than December and the top 3 views were from the UK, Türkiye and the USA, then followed by The Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, Germany, Sweden, Vietnam and Ireland. I was pleased to see Vietnam in the top 10 for the start of 2026. It stopped raining but the skies were grey and another downpour was imminent.
I met a friend at the tea gardens and we had a catch up and a cup of tea – I splashed out and had 2 large teas for 40 lira (68p) and we were there for a while. We left just as it was starting to rain again but I managed to get back home in time to check on the leaks. Our pool on the complex had overflowed so it was a good job I had my wellies on.
By the time I was walking past my parents’ and to Jamie’s, the sun was out and I hurried back to take Norman out for a walk. I found him laying on the kitchen rug, basking in the sunshine. On the walk, the skies got gloomier and by the end of it, little Norman had quite a spurt on to get home before he got wet.
We got in just before another downpour and I had sausage casserole with veggies and potatoes for my dinner – it was delicious. I ended up doing a bit of work in the evening and decided to follow another one of those prompt sheets I often do but only get halfway through!
Norman came for snuggles on the sofa while I got excited over a Facebook recognition badge (sad, I know) and a video call with Captain Caveman who was in London.

Gratitude List
1. Tea with a friend on my day off
2. Norman
3. A video call with Captain Caveman.

Dalyan – 30th & 31st January

Friday 30th January was a busy day but I took a couple of hours off in the afternoon and I decided to take Sunday off this week. Pay day weekends, which mainly fall at the end of the month are usually my busiest times, so I was working tonight and all day tomorrow. It was still a bit damp out there and I was on day 11 of my 22 days of dog sitting Norman – half way through. Jamie and Drew were having a lovely time on their cruise and we got some photos and updates from Jamie in the WhatsApp group, making us all jealous of the amazing weather he was enjoying.
I continued to work as hard as I could at building my travel business and promoting my books. I even got an update from Facebook on my author’s page to say ‘Congrats! You’ve completed our ads academy’. This was more impressive in that I didn’t know I was trying to complete it. I still found it hard to grow an audience and, with how Facebook works with followers, it was frustrating. I had invited people to follow, which means they can see my posts on preview without actually clicking the follow button but then people just stay in the limbo position and I can’t count them as a follower (because they aren’t) to get the extra benefits from Facebook for having more followers. Meanwhile, I also can’t remove and re invite them either.
At 2.30pm I downed tools and headed over to speak to a friend of a friend, who needed a cat sitter. A mutual friend had suggested me and we’d arranged for me to visit them today. The cats were sweet and quite playful, the owners I knew from seeing them about town. I was there an hour and a half but then had to get back to walk Norman, I called at the shop on the way back and here’s what I bought with prices in lira;

Migros
Plastic bag 1.00
Mints 23.45
Popcorn 34.95
Grapefruit drink 38.90
Olives 46.12
Dark chocolate 69.95
Feta cheese 149.90
Tofu 162.95
Total spent 527.22 lira (£9.25)

Unfortunately, there was no chicken left and I’d planned to cook a teriyaki chicken for dinner – I bought tofu as a replacement but wasn’t confident about that.
Norman was reluctant to set off for a walk but I made him, it was not raining when we left. When we returned home we were both absolutely soaked and had got caught in the downpour. Norman actually fell out with me and wouldn’t participate in a video to Little Daddy and Step Daddy Drew. He then demanded he should get a treat for enduring such a wet walk!
By 7pm he was on the sofa snoring away as I shelved the idea of tofu for tea and had a make do dinner of cheese and biscuits with olives so I could carry on working.

Gratitude List
1. Working hard
2. Norman
3. Cheese.

I was a bit out of sync on Saturday 31st January, so much so that I completely forgot it was market day. It rained all day and I had lots of stuff to get on with so I was busy at my laptop and I made a soup in the slow cooker.
At 11.30am, Norman started begging for a snack and he’d already had breakfast, 2 corners of toast and 1 gravy bone snack. He was not snoozy in the slightest and it was pouring with rain outside so he couldn’t go for a walk.
I had a couple of calls booked in with friends and one of them was to discuss more travel arrangements for the end of the year. I didn’t have my lunch, of halloumi pasta, until gone 3pm and after work, at 7.30pm, I decided to tot up my January income v expenditure and how the monthly budget had gone.
For the first time in a while, I’d managed to survive without too much hassle, but I had been looked after by Captain Caveman for the first 16 days of the month in Morocco and the UK. I added the holiday and Sheffield trip up separately to Türkiye which showed I’d spent a total of £668 (£600 of which had been paid for by Captain Caveman giving me the money).
Once back in Turkey I’d spent another £178 in total (including bills) and had a whopping £91 to carry over in to February.
I was pleased with that but I was starting Frugal February tomorrow in an attempt to build up an emergency fund. I wanted to get to the stage where I had spare money so, although I was going to have some treats, I had decided I needed to prioritise.
Captain Caveman was due to visit me on the 21st of next month so I set myself a goal to see if I could get by on not spending more than that £91, carried over from January, in the next 3 weeks. If I could, it would mean I’d effectively managed a no spend 3 weeks! It was going to be tough and I actually thought it might not be achievable but I was going to do my absolute best. What do you think, could I do it? Could you live off £30 per week in Türkiye for 3 weeks, if you tried to?

Gratitude List
1. Norman
2. Holiday planning
3. Surviving and having an impressively good January.

Dalyan – 28th & 29th January

It looked like it might stop raining a bit on Wednesday 28th January, which was good as I had to go to Fat Club and had arranged to meet friends. My measurements showed I’d put 2cm on both my waist and bust and had no change to my hips. Disappointingly, despite home cooking and less wine than previous weeks, the scales said I’d stayed the same – I hoped Carol’s scales were more favourable. I was up early and working away on my Resort Experts content for social media. When I checked how things were doing on my analytics, my ‘Top Tips for anyone visiting Vietnam’ post recently, had got lots more views and was ranked at 1 out of 10 – this was a good sign. My book sales for January were still a bit sporadic but at least I was going to get a payment in March. I’d set myself a goal to be able to survive without any money from Captain Caveman this year but I had struggled already. Even though I’d only spent £140 since getting back to Türkiye, I’d had to ask him for £30 to be able to cover the electric bill and the rest of my credit card, as I was slightly short. When I checked why I was short against my budget, I’d not accounted for the £27 internet cost as I’d paid cash and not added it to my spreadsheet – I usually track every penny/lira, too, so it was my mistake. Captain Caveman sent me £50 so I had a little extra and he didn’t mind at all. I did part 3 of the Race for Recurring Revenue and then rushed to get ready to face Carol’s scales.
Fat Club was full of surprises as I had in fact lost 1.2kg (2.6lb) which I was pleased about. When we came to pay the bill, there was an issue. Turkish Tea had gone up to 95 lira (£1.67) and a small water was now 60 lira (£1.05) at Caria Luxury hotel. That in itself wasn’t an issue but it was more the fact that 3 ladies had already left and the 2 members of staff couldn’t seem to work out the prices either. It was a right old palava and none of us now had the right amount.
I met a friend with Norman and we had a walk and a talk before dropping Norman back off at home. We then decided to try a new(ish) cafe in the Gülpınar area of Dalyan. Joy Cafe was very nice and we ordered water, tea and a lentil soup each. The prices were really good at 150 lira (£2.63) for all of that each and I’d definitely go back there again. I had to be back for 7pm as I had a client call booked in and then another session as part of the RRR, on Mindset.

Gratitude List
1. Losing weight
2. Norman and a walk with a friend
3. Joy Cafe.

Thursday 29th January was another wet and miserable day, we managed to get out but it was mainly work, the last session of RRR and making sure Norman was ok. I did manage to get Norman out for a walk but he was not thrilled and we both came back very moist.
I worked on more plans for my own trips in my lunch hour and attempting to promote my book, ‘The Handy Travel Planner’ to more people. I had no budget for ads or to pay a professional, to do my marketing so it was quite time consuming to do my own. I was learning lots and I was even starting to think about new areas that I had experience in which I could perhaps branch out in to. I was also starting to feel quite tired, and not being warm enough in the evenings. I missed Captain Caveman more than I thought I would, too.
That night, the storms got worse, power went off but luckily that was after I had eaten a chicken and pepper wrap and was only for a short time. Norman, being deaf, was not phased and slept through it once he’d been towel dried.

Gratitude List
1. Norman
2. The handy Travel Planner
3. Planning more trips in 2026

Dalyan – 26th & 27th January

It looked like the forecast bad weather on Monday 26th January may have been a mistake when I got up at 7am. I decided to run a few errands before my first Race to Recurring Revenue (RRR) challenge session. Another few enquiries had come in for holidays and my book sales were starting to slowly take off – but I needed more buyers. I also really wanted to get my books on actual bookshelves and in to airports and train stations. This was why I was doing the RRR stuff so I could continue to learn more ways to make passive income. I got on with work and then let Norman out for a wee – it was so blustery, it nearly blew him away and we had to get back inside.
I’d not had time for lunch so made a sweet and sour chicken for an early dinner just as the weather became pretty bad. In the bedroom I noticed a puddle of water coming in under the door, so I went to check the other rooms and windows. That’s when I noticed that Norman’s other bed and I brought it downstairs. Norman was so excited that he got in it straight away and was fast asleep by 9.30pm.

Gratitude List
1. A busy day
2. Norman
3. Less than a week of January left to go.

Tuesday 27th January was a wet and windy day where I worked from 8am to 7pm with a few breaks in between to attend the 2nd session of the Race to Recurring Revenue in my lunch break. I had calls booked in with friends who were either already booked in for holidays with me, or were looking to in the near future. Norman didn’t get a walk and had to go outside for pees and poos because the weather was so bad.
On the plus side, it did mean I couldn’t go out either so any Sabotage Tuesday treats could not be had. Before bed, I did a quick list for one of the Fat Club ladies for ideas on where to go in Vietnam during and after Tet holiday.

Gratitude List
1. Norman, who mainly slept all day
2. A busy but productive day
3. Speaking to 2 of my friends about travel.

The Handy Travel Planner Amazon link is here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0G7S5VX47/

Dalyan – 25th January

My first task on Sunday 25th January was to encourage Norman, who was very snoozy, to go outside. He was quite sleepy most of the day but he did have a corner or 2 of toast before napping. I got on with work and it was going to be a long day as I’d signed up for a free course which started late tonight. I had a lunch break at 3.30pm and decided to go to the shops to stock up for the rest of the week. Here’s what I bought with prices in lira;

BIM Supermarket
Pasta 14.00
Bread 15.00
Satsumas 18.73
Rice crackers 23.50
Sweetcorn 32.50
Bananas 41.83
2 Dido chocolate bars 43.50
Mushrooms 48.00
Wholemeal bread 52.00
Wraps 63.50
600g chicken breasts 145.19
Frozen chicken pieces 170.00
700g chicken thighs 179.53
Total spent 847 lira (£14.86)

I made a chicken and leek pasta bake for dinner which was amazing and had a few portions left for fridge/freezer. Norman put in another complaint when he thought his dinner was late as we had been back from a walk for over 30 minutes.
In the evening we watched some TV and I fell asleep on the sofa until my alarm went off for a Facebook Live session I’d agreed to join. Tomorrow was the start of a challenge called the Race to Recurring Revenue with business strategist Lisa Johnson, so I joined an 11pm welcome party on my laptop.

Gratitude List
1. Norman
2. Food shopping
3. A tasty dinner.

Dalyan – 24th January

It was quite a busy day on Saturday 24th January and I was glad to get to the weekly market for the first time in 2026. On my way there, I checked my messages/Facebook and noticed some kind comments about The Handy Travel Planner, which was encouraging.

The market was busier than I’d expected but I guess folks were getting out in between the pockets of rain, as more bad weather was likely. Here’s what I bought with prices in lira;

Stall 1
potatoes & red onions 60 lira (£1.05)

Stall 2
carrots, cabbage & broccoli 65 lira (£1.14)

Stall 3
leeks 35 lira (61p)

Stall 4
peppers 80 lira (£1.40)

Stall 5
strawberries, spring onions, tomatoes, apples, mushrooms & mange-tout
Total 460 lira (£8.07)

Stall 6
Gözleme/Pancake 150 lira (£2.63)
Total spent 850 lira (£14.91)

It was a big spend this week but I’d not got any fresh produce in since my return from the UK, so it was needed. I’d also decided that splashing out on the mushroom and cheese gözleme was a great idea and would save me cooking any lunch. I even sat at the stall and ate it in the market, like a local. I made it back to the corner of Jamie’s road when the rain came again so Norman wasn’t too pleased that his walk would be delayed.
Tonight I had plans to go to a friend’s for a curry night, which I was looking forward to. Unfortunately, one of the attendees was ill and couldn’t make it so it was cancelled.
I decided to take Norman for a walk and the rain eased off so we went right along the river. On my way back round, my friends were in Corner Bar so Norman and I joined them. I had a soda water and 2 red wines which came to 400 lira (£7) and this time I made sure I paid on card to be able to keep track easier. Norman got a chance to clean the floor of any scraps but, unfortunately, as we got halfway home, the rain came again and we got a bit wet. Norman put in a complaint about wet paws and late dinner so we had to do a video for Jamie. The night was finished off with me eating pasta for dinner and watching Death in Paradise on TV until I fell asleep on the sofa.

Gratitude List
1. Dalyan market
2. Norman
3. Drinks with friends.

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.

Dalyan – 19th to 21st January

Monday 19th January was a busy day for me, not only unpacking, doing laundry and working but also getting ready for my next lot of shenanigans. I had flown back when I had, so that I could look after Norman, the dog, for 22 days starting tomorrow.
I managed to have a quick morning walk to the bank to get out some cash as the sun was shining. I also paid the internet for 2 months at Captainnet – they wouldn’t let me pay for longer as more price increases were due. On my way back, I called at the shop to stock up on a few essentials, here’s what I bought with prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket

Milk 10.90
1 Quark 49.95
Pesto sauce 144.95
4 tins tomatoes 199.80
Frozen berries 229.95
Total spent 635.55 lira (£11.15)

I took time out of my busy schedule for helping a Facebook friend on a budget who was in Vietnam and needed somewhere to stay at Tet holiday. I put Chung, one of my best friend’s in Phong Nha, in touch and she offered their home at a bargain price and included the new year dinner because it was a friend of mine – how lovely of her.
Next, I started looking at flights to Spain, from Turkey, which weren’t ideal so I thought about my next trip back to to the UK. I’d probably tie in a week with Captain Caveman and then join a friend’s trip to Spain. It was all very exciting and it felt good to know I’d be having a few trips in 2026. I didn’t finish work until 9.30pm by which time it was too late for a proper dinner so I just had cheese and biscuits.

Gratitude List
1. A walk around sunny Dalyan
2. Helping a visitor to Phong Nha out
3. Planning trips for myself and friends.

Tuesday 20th January turned out to be a bit unusual. I worked from home in the morning at mine and Jamie picked me up just after lunch. When I got to his place, Norman and I had been left in charge of a painter who was just there for the rest of the day. This was going to be the longest I’d looked after Norman and he was almost 15 years old so when Jamie said bye to Norman, he told him he had to live until he got back. I also hoped he would survive and all looked promising as he could still walk quite well and had a great appetite.
The painter and I did our best to make sure Norman didn’t end up with a dark green mustache and it was so cold in Jamie’s with all the doors and windows open – I struggled to type! Norman was not impressed either as it looked like the weather forecast was showing rain over the next week or two. After doing a dog walk as far as my house, Norman decided he’d had enough and didn’t want to walk by the river. In the evening, I went to meet Penny and Phil at Corner Bar. It had now become the popular bar for Dalyan Dwellers so they were in there with Lady C, the dog. I ended up having 3 wines which were 170 lira (£3) each so prices, although cheaper than the UK, had gone up a little. The wine was Harman which is ok but not as good as the UK stuff I’d got used to. I ended up paying cash of 600 lira (£10.53) as the change didn’t come back as expected. For dinner, I had a warmed up, previously batch cooked freezer meal then had a video call with Captain Caveman. I ended up sleeping on the sofa, to keep my eye on Norman who was already snoring away!

Gratitude List
1. Norman
2. Getting rid of the painter so we could shut the doors again
3. Drinks with Penny & Phil.

I was awake very early on Wednesday 21st January after an uncomfortable night on the sofa. I made a cup of tea and realised I’d not got enough bread for toast so had to make do. I worked all morning, including helping a colleague know what information to get from a new client looking for holiday quotes – my new book, The Handy Travel Planner, came in handy and I sent her a photo of the pages I use to collate this type of information. I did a video of Norman for Jamie & Drew as an update for them to see how he was doing. My phone was still playing up but was doing videos while deleting any photos I took – I was saving up for a new one.
Today was weigh day, my measurements showed that I’d put on centimetres on my bust and hips but lost on my waist. I’d not been to Fat Club since before Christmas so it wasn’t going to be a good result. I had put on 2.7kg (6lb) in 5 weeks!!! That was going to take some shifting but I would try my best to lose it in the 5 weeks I had until Captain Caveman arrived. I now needed to lose almost 8kg (1st 3lb) to get back down to my target weight. We have the Fat Club group meeting at Caria Luxury hotel, which is very nice but there was a bit of a to-do when a cup of Turkish tea had increased to 80 lira (£1.40), which I also thought was steep! The group decided we might look for another venue for future weeks.
After a dog walk and feeding, I just had pasta for dinner as I had a couple of holiday enquiries I was working on until 10pm. Tonight, I was looking forward to a better night’s sleep.

Gratitude List
1. Norman
2. Seeing the ladies at Fat Club again
3. Being warmer today.

Pontecarlo – 15th January

On Thursday 15th January both Captain Caveman and I worked from his home in Pontecarlo – he in his upstairs office and me in the living/dining room. There was much excitement as my colleague and friend in Majorca received The Handy Travel Planner – the first one to get to Spain and it had took 3 weeks! Dagne was so pleased and she sent me photos from Majorca and would send me a video tomorrow as she was on her way to work now.

I finished work at 12 to go meet Louisa, who had very kindly driven from Sheffield to come to meet me at The Carleton pub for lunch. As we’d picked a dog friendly pub, she had brought Bodhi too. We had a good catch up and decided to order some starters to share as our main meal so that we would have room for their fab jam roly poly and custard. I was glad I’d got to see Louisa and have cuddles with Bodhi, who was very well behaved in the pub, as I’d not had enough time to catch up with her when I was in Sheffield. It was also good to chat about potential holiday plans together for later this year. Louisa very kindly treated me to my lovely lunch for my birthday and unfortunately I had to get back to my desk.

After a few more hours on some admin and quotes, I finished for the day. As tonight was my last in Pontecarlo, Captain Caveman decided he wanted to take me out for a last birthday celebration and we could choose between Indian or Thai. We had a walk to the Grocer’s Arms pub. The music was great and they served proper beers and ciders at reasonable prices. The man serving was friendly and the punters all seemed interesting – a local walking group was in when we were there.

Next, we went to Mumbai of Pontefract where we ordered the shared starter with fish, samosa, pakora, chicken tikka and onion bhaji. We ordered the non-alcoholic wine which the waiter said was £4 for a bottle but was actually £4 a glass. It tasted better than I thought it would be and they didn’t sell alcohol in there. For main, Captain Caveman had a spicy dish and I had a chicken tikka (no sauce), we shared all the accompaniments and the food was ok. It was not the best Indian we had been to and just 5 minutes after finishing eating I was in the toilet with a really bad stomach! It cost just under £50 which Captain Caveman paid for and we were both a bit disappointed that I was ill. The reason we had chosen the Indian was I didn’t want to be unwell for the train down to London tomorrow, too – so maybe we should have gone for Thai.
We walked home, with me feeling rubbish and only just made it home to the bathroom. I had to go straight to bed to rest too.

Gratitude List
1. Seeing Louisa and Bodhi for birthday celebrations at lunch
2. A visit to the Grocer’s Arms
3. Spending the evening with Captain Caveman for more birthday celebrations.

If you’d like to be better planned for any travelling you want to do, here’s the link to where you can buy my planner: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0G7S5VX47/

Barnes to Sheffield – 28th & 29th December

Captain Caveman was fit for nothing on Sunday 28th December as he was tired. I’d thought he might’ve been cooking a breakfast for everyone but he stayed laying on the bed until gone 11am. His parents were already up and about long before that and I’d logged on to my laptop to do a bit of work. Today was going to be another family day as Captain Caveman’s brother, sister-in-law and 3 nephews were coming to stay for a few days. Originally we had planned to go to Sheffield on this day but had decided to stay to see The Sprouts (called that because they live in Brussels).
It was just before noon when Captain Caveman got in the kitchen to cook us a brunch. Mine was sausages, bacon and mushrooms on a pancake (using the self raising flour batter mixture from yesterday). It was very nice and tasty and of course not Slimming World friendly at all!!!
I worked for the rest of the afternoon, then at 4.30pm I encouraged Captain Caveman to come to the shop with me. We spent about £10 on some chocolates and a gift for a friend. It was so cold out and I was assuming the North tomorrow would be colder.
When we got back in the house I noticed that the table was set much like a Christmas Day – there were crackers! To my surprise, I was actually joining in a belated Christmas celebration as well as us all celebrating Anna’s birthday.
The Sprouts arrived and it was great to see them again, wine was poured and there was even gift exchanges. The hats, earmuffs and Turkish Delight were well received, Captain Caveman was pleased with his boozy gifts and I loved my fancy lip balms (much needed in this winter weather too)!
The dinner was delicious and I felt so grateful to be enjoying it with the family. The ‘icing on the cake’, though, was the home made (by Captain Caveman’s Ma) Christmas cake – the best thing I had all Christmas!!!

Gratitude List
1. An extra day in Barnes with Captain Caveman and his family
2. Laughing
3. Cake.

Monday 29th December was a working day for Captain Caveman and I, so we got up at stupid o’clock to get to Chesterfield before Captain Caveman’s first meeting at 9am. We had a McDonald’s breakfast – my first in years and, for the price, I won’t be in a rush to have another. My sausage (no egg) muffin tasted very salty and the hash brown oozed grease. My cup of tea was decent though. Captain Caveman left me editing some content while he went off to his meeting.
We reconvened, then drove to call in on a friend, who was in recovery from a major operation. I had got my flu jab in Turkey, had brought masks and was trying to minimise passing on any germs by prioritising seeing her before I did the rounds up North!
I was very surprised to see how well my friend and her hubby were doing considering their situation and I almost cried when I saw them. It was just so good to be able to visit and hear all about the very slow and tricky recovery period.
Since I’d last seen them, a new addition to the family had arrived in the form of the cutest little dog. Unfortunately, she was on high alert and in protective mode so we didn’t get any cuddles – maybe next time. She still managed to snaffle some treats from Captain Caveman though, she’s not daft!
We didn’t stay long on account of my friend needing rest and us having to get back to work once we reached our next ‘home’.
My parents had kindly offered to put us up for a couple of days. We both managed the work schedules very laissez-faire in the afternoon and decided to finish at 5pm. I got a photo from my sister who had been bought my new planner for Christmas and she was over the moon with it. She was in Scotland with the dog and was about to start filling it in.
Captain Caveman and I nipped to the shop as we hadn’t had chance to get any wine for dinner. Here’s what we bought with prices in pounds;

Co-op Supermarket
Radox shower gel 1.05
Pasta bolognese ready meal 3.80
2 curry paste packs 4.00
1 bottle of Pinot Grigio 7.65
1 bottle of Prosecco 9.00
Total spent £25.50

Captain Caveman, my parents and I decided a walk to the local pub, The Alma, a good idea for pints of beer or cider before dinner.
We just had a couple with it being a school night and then Mom cooked us a lovely dinner, which we had wine with! It was cold but didn’t seem any colder than London.

Gratitude List
1. Visiting friends in Chesterfield
2. A post Christmas catch up with Ma & Pa
3. More lovely food and drink in Mosborough.