Dalyan – 31st October

Captain Caveman and I don’t do Halloween so we were pleased to be invited to a non-Halloween party on Monday 31st October. Norman and Edna had slept on our bed at Jamie’s villa and weren’t even up and about by 8.45pm. They had walks and breakfast, making sure I was still checking Jamie’s list for feeding and medication requirements. Vanessa came over to Jamie’s villa, while Captain Caveman had gone Dogging, so that we could do our Turkish homework. We even did it outside on the front patio with a soda water, ice and lemon. For a late lunch I made jacket potatoes with cheese and a bit of sucuk (Turkish sausage) but without butter to make sure it wasn’t too many syns for Fat Club. We had more dog walking in the late afternoon before we got ready to go out. We were already running late to meet Vanessa, Matt, Ma & Pa outside Istanbul restaurant so when we did get there they had already gone on to Adam and Kath’s where the party was already in full swing. Kate was still on her alcohol free stint and doing amazingly well as she sipped water with pomegranate and orange pieces in. Mark was being very supportive by not offering her one of his beers. I thought I could do well to take a leaf out of Kate’s book, as I opened a bottle of Tılsım red wine and poured Captain Caveman and I a glass. I sat next to Linda and she had a glass, there were crisps and Doritos which I luckily couldn’t reach but I saw Captain Caveman shovelling them in like a kid who’d been forever denied treats. Also there, were Andy and Kay who I’d not seen for a bit so it was good to catch up. Jack & Sue and Nigel & Amanda were at the other end of the table with some people I didn’t know so I didn’t get to chat to them.
Adam and Kath had put a delightful spread of food on and it was definitely difficult to stick to the diet as I ate ham in a breadcake with some salad items, including olives which are not syn free. I was spared the fab looking roast potatoes as they had chillies on and I did have some crisps. Linda got a second bottle of wine out for the 3 of us to share, it was one I’d not tried before and I liked it.
Matt decided to organise a pool tournament and it turned in to a right laugh. My Dad doesn’t usually play and, because of his bad eyesight, he wasn’t up for playing but it wasn’t an option – our names were down. We had a few rounds of Killer, which I like best and Dad wasn’t the worst player. Captain Caveman and I actually left at a reasonable hour as we wanted to get back for the dogs. On our way ‘home’ we walked near to the new Jazz Bar in the square next to Migros which was very lively.
Norman and Edna looked like they hadn’t moved from the sofa when we got ‘home’ so I’m sure we could have stayed out longer. We left before my parents, Mark & Kate and Vanessa & Matt who were still giving the ball a good kick.

Photo credit – Adam Newton

Dalyan – 30th October

Kate, aka Miss Guided Tours or Miss Adventure, had organised another boat trip on Sunday 30th October. I had resigned myself to not going given that Edna, the dog, had not been well yesterday. When we got up and took both dogs out for a walk they were fine and Edna was back to normal, thankfully. I decided I would go on the boat trip, after all, but it did mean we would be leaving the pooches in the villa for about 7 hours and I was a bit concerned. Before the day out to sea on Kaan’s Tequila Boat, we didn’t have time to make breakfast so we grabbed a pain au chocolat from Migros and ate it at the front of the boat. On board today we had some of the same usual suspects but we were missing a couple who couldn’t make it and had added more for good measure. My parents, Captain Caveman and I were joined by Vanessa, Adam & Kath, Jackie & Chris, Trish & Steve, Michaela & Ali, Gay Gaz, Kelly and a lady we call 007. Mark and Kate got picked up from their jetty on our way to Devil’s Bay once again. I was so pleased that Ali was well enough to join us even though he and Michaela were not able to go mad with the drink. Trish was back to her usual self too and could enjoy a white wine (or 2) but Vanessa was now feeling a bit iffy and had to limit her wines to just 2 this time. Kate, who was doing so well being alcohol free but was finding it tricky to not drink. Typically, Kaan and Kate had agreed water would be free on this trip, so if she ordered wisely she still could take advantage of a free bar today! Of course, Gay Gaz, Kelly, Mark and Steve managed to make up for it on the booze. By 2pm Captain Caveman had cleared a beach of lots of litter and was towing it back to the boat using a paddle board as a raft.

Most people went in the sea and it was sunny still, about 26°C, but it did feel cool when I got out of the water. Kaan was so relaxed because this could well be the last boat trip of the season and he knows us all so well. He even joined us in a few drinks at the bar, leaving his two mates to do all the work.

The BBQ lunch was wonderful and with 18 of us on the boat it was cosy while we ate it. Kaan took us for another swim spot at hole island and we had more drinks, I think we may even have ran out of certain refreshments.

It was a lovely day even though I didn’t drink too much on account of looking after Jamie’s dogs and, when everyone suggested going for drinks after the boat trip, we decided to go straight home. I was sure that little Edna may need a walk by now and even half expected for one of the dogs to have had an accident but they had been as good as gold. I didn’t have any WiFi on the boat so I didn’t realise that we had missed Nanny Kay who had popped round to say hello, while we were out. I was sad to have missed her because she does have some of the best stories and always makes me laugh. After a nice walk the dogs were super ravenous and it was good to see Edna was back on her normal dog biscuits.
For dinner that night we had diet pizzas and were trying not to fall asleep on the sofa, while watching Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix, at only 9.30pm.

Photo credit – Michaela, Adam and Kaan

Dalyan – 28th & 29th October

By 7.10am on Friday 28th October, I was up and ready for a walk, even if Norman and Edna weren’t! They had slept on my bed all night and were still a little snoozy. The view from my bedroom window was wonderful and I thought it would be lovely to be round that pool in summer. After bread and cheese for breakfast I took Daisy, my bicycle, back home to see how Captain Caveman was doing. His foot was still bad but he could walk a bit better now. I left my bike for him to use and I walked back to Jamie’s for more dog fussing. In all the faffing about I forgot to get weighed or do my weekly measurements. I started making a chicken casserole for dinner while Captain Caveman got moved in and fussed the dogs. He had brought lots of stuff for the fridge and freezer which we just about managed to squidge in. For our evening walk, which was easier with 2 people we took the dogs to nearby Waterfall bar. They know Skippy, the Waterfall dog, and we met my parents there. John and Andrea were in with friends but came to say hello and pet the pooches. When Edna and Norman wanted to chase cats it was time to go home for dinner. While Captain Caveman sorted my parents out with a glass of wine, I fed the dogs who ate like they had never been fed. We had a civilised evening, eating chicken casserole with broccoli and roast potatoes. My Mom pointed out that Dad had been given more potatoes than Captain Caveman which then meant Captain Caveman was disappointed to not have as much dinner. I’d not made a dessert but there were some mini-Magnum icecreams in the freezer, taking up unnecessary room, so we polished them off. After another glass of wine and some dog tickles I booked Fikri (the taxi driver) to take my parents home so they didn’t get lost in the dark.

There was a bit of a ‘to do’ on Saturday 29th October; at first I wasn’t sure which of the dogs were ill because they had both left presents in the kitchen but one wasn’t very solid! It turned out that Edna had a bad tummy so I made her scrambled egg and pasta for breakfast. I was meant to be meeting Vanessa for Turkish homework but had to cancel as I didn’t want to leave Edna in the house with the runs. I let Jamie know she wasn’t too well and I stayed home all day with the dogs.
Captain Caveman went to the weekly market where he bought potatoes, onions, aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, and carrots for less than 100 lira (£5). At Migros supermarket he bought Fairy liquid, apple & cherry juice and white beans for 80 lira (under £4). We had a few walks and Edna managed to have the runs on her own garden path which Captain Caveman washed for us. I mainly stayed outside on the patio where the sun was really hot and I was glad of Jamie’s suncream shelf as I hadn’t thought I’d need to bring any at this time of year. By 5pm I was having a glass of wine and updating my diary while the dogs snoozed.
In the evening we were invited to Deniz’s wedding party at Paradise Hotel but we decided not to leave Edna (or Norman) in case things didn’t improve. I made more scrambled egg and noodles for Edna’s dinner and turned left overs in to a chicken casserole with white beans. It was really good and I would do the same recipe but with sausages next time. Before 10pm it looked like little Edna was on the mend and all but me were enjoying sofa snoozes! We had plans for tomorrow but we had already decided I would stay home if Edna was not 100% and Captain Caveman would go without me.

Dalyan – 26th & 27th October

Captain Caveman woke up in pain on Wednesday 26th October, he was sneezy and his gout had flared up so he couldn’t get out of bed. I went to the bakers for bread and a simit and we had Turkish style breakfast. Captain Caveman struggled to make it to the table and had to dose himself up on painkillers. A friend messaged me to say all had gone well yesterday at the hospital for her husband, which was excellent news. I went to Jamie’s to pop over for a dog related briefing as we were moving in to his place tomorrow, while he and Drew jetted off to a wedding.
In the afternoon I went to my first Fat Club meeting and it was quite funny. The idea is that we follow Slimming World’s philosophy, although Kate is doing her’s as calorie counting instead. I’d already lost 0.8kg by our leader, Carol’s, reckoning but that was only because I had given her my current weight from my scales at home, which weigh heavier. I needed to lose 10kg so we would see if I could manage that given all the temptations in Dalyan. I was hoping to use the group for motivation, inspiration, ideas and obviously the tracking of the weight. Carol had us all discuss when we can do a Christmas knees up (with food and drink) and then went on to plan for us to bring treats to the group in a fortnight’s time. At first I didn’t hear that they were meant to be syn free treats and had visions of me tucking in to a Bounty!
I went home with two borrowed Slimming World cook books, some ideas for soup making and all full of determination. I had an apple for a snack, followed by a home made chicken, potato and spinach curry with steamed rice. I worked out I could have 15 syns each day and thought that would be plenty as I don’t tend to snack or eat much sweet stuff (or so I thought)! Captain Caveman was laid up on the sofa and could barely walk so I had to go out without him. I met my parents at Retro bar and decided to have a glass of white wine and soda so that I had a more sensible drink which would last longer. I don’t like to drink diet drinks because of how the body reacts, plus they don’t taste great. Maureen and Gary arrived and we got on with the quiz, the picture round was quite tricky in parts. We had a good laugh at the quiz and we didn’t do as badly without Captain Caveman as he would have predicted, but we didn’t win. I stuck to just 2 white wine and sodas, which was 17 syns and I’d already had 6 syns at breakfast. Today I had already gone over my daily allowance and would have to keep it in check a bit for the rest of the week.

Captain Caveman was still not well on Thursday 27th October so I had to move in to Jamie’s villa without him. I started the day with a simit, hazelnut and tahini paste mixed together and a cup of Yorkshire tea with milk. Then I said bye to Captain Caveman and cycled over to Jamie’s. It was the first time he had left his 2 King Charles Caveliers in Turkey and he was, understandably, a bit apprehensive and sad. He’d already given them their breakfast and daily treat and then he said his goodbyes. Jamie’s cleaner had made some cake which he had left some for me to finish off as well as 4 bottles of red wine – day 2 of the diet was going well!
Norman and Edna were absolutely fine as soon as Jamie had left and were quite happy being fussed or snoozing. When I took them for a walk they were so cute and comical but very well behaved. For lunch I had a cheese sandwich, I drank lots of water and had noodles for dinner but then I had a small piece of the cake! This meant I had consumed 8 syns today so I was still already over as a running total, so far. The cake was so nice, very moist and the dogs really wanted some. Instead they got their biscuits which they inhaled so quickly I thought they might choke. Norman had scoffed his before I’d even put the lid back on the tub, I was going to have to be careful I didn’t drop anything on the floor when cooking or that would be snaffled up.
When it came to bed time I wasn’t sure if the pooches would go in their bed or stay on the sofa and so I asked them. It was hilarious that the word bedtime had them halfway up the stairs looking at me, as if to say “Well, come on then!”

Dalyan – 19th to 21st October

Captain Caveman was not too clever on Wednesday 19th October when he got up to go Dogging. He was very sneezy, as if he was still near cats but he hadn’t been. His mood was also a bit iffy and he seemed to have a bit of an issue with me having my things around the home. While he was gone I decided to do a clear out of some of my clothes, as I had 3 boxes of them in a cupboard which would not fit in the shared wardrobe.
The Wednesday Fun Quiz at Retro bar had been moved to Thursday for this week so my parents, Captain Caveman and I had a spare evening to spend at home. When Captain Caveman got back he hardly spoke, was very sneezy. We had diet pizzas for tea, watched some Netflix then went to bed.

***Captain Caveman’s photos of the dogs being walked at the shelter.***

Captain Caveman went Bumming on Thursday 20th October while I sorted through my winter clothes. Captain Caveman was still under the weather and I had started to feel a headache coming on.
For lunch Captain Caveman made halloumi salad, he put some shelves in a cupboard in the afternoon. We decided not to go to the Retro bar fun quiz tonight, my parents went to Firat’s for dinner but we stayed in again.

Disappointingly, the training workshop I was due to be part of today had been moved on a month. On Friday 21st October Captain Caveman was very productive, he’d been to the shops and he was cooking a full English breakfast. In Migros he spent 165.60 lira (£7.88) on a toastie loaf, eggs, cereal and chicken. Before breakfast I did my weekly weigh and measurements only to be a little disappointed. My weight was 0.3kg lighter but my measurements were showing I’d increased by 1 or 2cm.
We’d eaten the delicious breakfast and washed up before 9.30am so we could waste more time on the communal electricity issue. I had read every meter in the B Block cabinet but none of them seemed to correlate with the communal electric. I decided to have a look if there was a specific meter for this in A Block and we found it had been cut off, with cutters and a tag had been put on by the electric company, we presumed. This was very strange and I could not understand why they would do that, especially when Captain Caveman had just paid almost 2500 lira (£120) about 10 days ago. The last time I had spoken to Aydem about this they said they couldn’t do anything without me having a paper bill or the correct meter number. We still had no paper bill but maybe the tag number would help? I planned to ask my Turkish teacher to help me on Tuesday as we were getting nowhere.
I did some Turkish practice and homework, we had curry for dinner and then we joined my parents for Lukka Music Bingo. Adam & Kath were on the next table with Sue, Nigel and Amanda so everyone got introduced and the Bingo was good fun. Our table of 4 had said we weren’t eating at Lukka because we had all eaten dinner at home. For some reason Captain Caveman ordered an halloumi starter at a cost of 65 lira (£3.10) – my homemade curry obviously hadn’t filled him up enough. The men had 3 beers but the ladies only had 2 as we didn’t want to be hungover for tomorrow’s outing.
As usual the Music Bingo was great, we didn’t win but we had a fun night – this time not a wild or late one.