It was still dark at 7am on Wednesday 7th December when I fed 5 out of 6 cats at Mark and Kate’s house. It was very cold outside so I took a cup of tea back to bed with me. Kylie didn’t turn up until 8.30am but did stay indoors after her breakfast. Captain Caveman had decided to go on a big walk over the other side of the river and had chosen to take Charlie with him. He even sent me a photo from the top of a mountain and I hoped Charlie’s little legs were ok. By noon I had my lunch break spoiled by Bebek, the youngest cat, bringing me a gift. It was a mouse, or a rat, and I had to get Kylie to take it away, which she impressively did. My diet had really gone a bit off track because I hadn’t brought much of my food over from any of the other houses. I ended up having half a chicken and mushroom pie from the fridge, before setting off to walk to Fat Club. Unsurprisingly, I had put on 0.3kg this week, which is less than 1lb, so I wasn’t unduly worried. After the group, I walked to Tez bar to see my parents, Captain Caveman and Charlie. The walkers had not yet gone home but it looked like they had really bonded. Charlie had been very well behaved and had been on a rowing boat, a ferry and walked quite a long trek without any issues. I had planned to go back to Charlie’s with Captain Caveman for dinner but it was getting dark so I left everyone there and walked back to feed the cats. As my dinner plans had once again fell through I had more pide, courtesy of Mark and Kate, then went to bed fairly early.
Video of Bebek bringing me a presentVideo of Kylie taking the present away
Tuesday 6th December turned out to be busier (and more stressful) than I had hoped! I walked Charlie, had tea and toast for breakfast, put a BBQ style chicken in the slow cooker and tried to finish something on my laptop. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, due to interruptions, and by late morning, I was on my way to Mark and Kate’s house with my rucksack and a portion of sausage casserole. They were both going back to the UK and I had already booked in the pet sitting for the kitties, before Charlie had come along. Because Captain Caveman is allergic to cats, he would stay with Charlie, while I went to Mark and Kate’s to look after their 6 cats for a week – it sounded so simple at the time! When I arrived, they were almost ready to go and Kate pointed out her Christmas trimmings, including a tree on the wall which was a great idea with cats. Kate had left me some things in the fridge to eat, including pide, and there was red wine for me too. My bedroom was nice and tidy and I moved my stuff in before getting ready for singing group at 2pm. I was pushing it for time so I’d asked if I could borrow Kate’s electric bike. On the way there the bike felt very loose on the steering, it didn’t have much charge and the front tyre looked to be going down. I didn’t even get as far as Rehab bar before I had to get off and push the bike as the back tyre was going down as well. I messaged Captain Caveman and Mark for advice on what to do with the bike, locked it and left it at Rehab, then set off walking to Charlie’s. When I got there the downstairs door was locked, for the first time since I’d been there and I didn’t have that key, Captain Caveman did and when I called him to let me in he didn’t answer. I was late for Singing group, which started off well when one of the members of the group requested we have some more cheerful songs this week and Nanny Kay took over shouting out the next song to save it being repeated several times. At the end of singing I had a bit of a to do with Madge who asked my Mom if I was pregnant (again)! I was not in the mood for this and told her she needs to stop saying things like that, I tried to be diplomatic and say that there are women who would be more offended than me for being called fat! Crikey, maybe my diet wasn’t going so well, after all.
After Singing group I walked back to Charlie’s where I had hoped to have dinner with Captain Caveman but, because I needed to get the bike back to Mark and Kate’s before it got dark, I left straight away. Captain Caveman came with me to pump the tyres up a bit and said it would just about get me back. I ended up pushing it some of the way but got back in time. I was hoping to get some stuff done today but had failed and I definitely wasn’t prepared for the next fiasco. As I was feeding most of the cats, I could hear one of the cats sounding like it was coming from the front bedroom, which was locked. Squeak, the cat, had accidentally got locked in there and I had no way of knowing how to get her out. Mark and Kate were on the flight so I had to wait until they had landed to get a response. They were delayed and it was late by the time their friends, Michele and Nick, came to Squeak’s rescue and had to break in through a window. It wasn’t easy and I was so glad to have had their help. I finally had some warmed up sausage casserole, a glass of wine then went to bed. It was cold so I was glad of an extra blanket to keep me snug and it certainly did the trick.
On Monday 5th December Captain Caveman went Dogging while I worked through my to do list. I put a sausage casserole in the slow cooker and found that it peaked Charlie’s interest for most of the day as he really wanted sausages. I went to have crumpets for breakfast and they were already mouldy so I wasn’t too impressed. I cut the mouldy bits off and only had to throw one of them away. Charlie sunbathed on the balcony as the weather was nice again then later we took him to the Waterfall pub. We bumped in to John and Andrea and had a good laugh with them, including John and I finding out we could both still get earrings in our ears despite not wearing them for decades. Back home I tried to make Yorkshire puddings to go with the sausage casserole but the non-fan oven didn’t seem to get hot enough and they didn’t rise!
We had an exciting day planned on Sunday 4th December. Captain Caveman made me a bacon sandwich for my breakfast in bed and Charlie came in to watch me eat it. Then Captain Caveman popped to Migros supermarket and bought a loaf of bread, some mushrooms and 6 beers at a total of 208.85 lira (£9.21). At 11.30am Captain Caveman, Charlie and I were round at Jamie’s villa and we were joining him, Drew, Norman and Edna for a day at the beach. My parents were going to join us at the beach and were getting the midday bus. We all fitted in to Jamie’s car comfortably and we wondered if it was Charlie’s first time in a car. On the way there, Charlie started to feel travel sick so we had to stop for him to get out. When we did get to the beach, Charlie seemed unsure that he was allowed there, off the lead too (dogs aren’t allowed on the beach in the main season) so he was a bit shy. Norman and Edna were used to it and had already started heading towards the water’s edge. Charlie ended up loving the beach but he didn’t go in the sea like Norman and he wasn’t sure how to play fetch the stick like Edna. It was a lovely sunny day and so sweet to see all 3 dogs having a good walk along the beach. We walked a lot, Charlie got loads of exercise and some bonding with Captain Caveman, as he’s not too fond of men. Around 1pm we grabbed some sunny seats at the cafe and I spotted some sunglasses on the floor which turned out to be a Turkish lady’s on the next table. She was grateful and gave us some treats to eat as a way of thanking me. They were delicious and she even gave us some of her homemade pomegranate jam to go with them. The cafe was still serving food and we had a mixture of toasties, chicken döner sandwiches, chips and soft drinks. Dad had also brought some snacks in case the cafe was closed. Adam had some of his beers too but I wasn’t fancying a beer today. We left in the car just before my parents, who got the 4.30pm bus back. We had Slimming World red onion soup for dinner and by 9pm Charlie was snoozing away, tired out from his beach day but very happy. He’s not normally allowed in our room but by 11.30pm he was fast asleep on our bed with his blankie on.
On Saturday 3rd December Charlie had not left us a present and I was pleased, he was getting used to us now. There had been a noise in the night but when I asked Captain Caveman if he had heard it, he hadn’t – I wouldn’t find out what it was until later. I took Charlie for a walk and when I got back Captain Caveman was getting ready to go to the weekly market. The weather was nice again and I took some photos from the roof of Charlie’s apartment. I took my measurements, because I had forgotten yesterday, and I was surprised to find I had lost 1cm from my bust and 4cm from my waist but had increased everywhere else. I was busy all morning and Captain Caveman brought chestnuts, apples, plums and grapes back from the market. We found out that Charlie is a sun lover and likes to sunbathe on the roof. Captain Caveman cooked a healthy chicken pasta for dinner and I happened to notice that, in our room, the wardrobe shelf and rail had collapsed – so I did hear a noise. Captain Caveman had not been content with having to leave his clothes in a bag to live from and had moved some of the clothes from one side of the wardrobe to the other. The weight had made it buckle inwards and all the clothes were now in the bottom of the wardrobe. Captain Caveman agreed he would get his tools and fix it! We had a nice pasta dish fo dinner and Captain Caveman and I walked Charlie together. That night I checked to see how much flights were in January for friends in the UK who might want to come to visit me for my 50th birthday, they weren’t too expensive but are only flying twice per week during the winter.
December in Dalyan started with rain on the morning of Thursday 1st. Captain Caveman brought me a bacon muffin for breakfast in bed, which was delicious. Charlie, the dog, had left us a nice present on the floor of the living room before 8am, I cleaned up, and took him out but he wasn’t a fan of rain so was quite reluctant to walk and just wanted to play. He’d started to get on with Captain Caveman and I well and we spent the whole day figuring each other out and getting used to where things were in our new place. Captain Caveman made a plan to go back to our own apartment once it stopped raining to get food and booze from the fridge which I wasn’t able to carry when I moved in. The owners had kindly left us almost a bottle of wine and the fridge freezer was big enough for us to fit most of our stuff in. At 3.30pm we chanced a short walk with Charlie where he introduced Captain Caveman to Poo corner, a favourite spot for Charlie to do his business! We had Slimming World pumpkin curry for dinner and hoped for a drier day tomorrow. Charlie started talking to me but I was unsure what he was saying, probably that he wanted some curry.
On Friday 2nd December Charlie had left us another gift in exactly the same place as the last one. I took him for a walk to Poo corner and we saw a Labrador who was off the lead. A dad and his kid were walking a black and white dog on a lead, which the Labrador attacked. Charlie was very scared and tried to run off but I kept him walking as we were far enough away. He came back from his walk very cold, wet and shaking so we decided he could have a duvet morning. Captain Caveman made us bacon and mushroom muffins before he left to go to Bridge club at 10am. I worked on my laptop for the rest of the morning, Captain Caveman finished Bridge about 1pm and he had already been to our place to pick up some stuff and do some washing. I walked Charlie over to Lukka to meet Captain Caveman and on the way the same Labrador from this morning’s walk came out of his gate to try to attack Charlie, I stepped in the way and stopped him. I spoke to the owner and told him of the incident this morning and he agreed to keep the gate closed. After a hand over of Charlie, the dog, to Captain Caveman at Lukka I went to my Turkish lesson and one of the girls there really had me laughing. She has a Turkish husband and family and had only just realised she had been mixing up the words for ‘interesting’ and ‘disgusting’ at family gatherings! Next week would be the last class until January as our teacher was going to visit her family in the UK. After class, I went to join Captain Caveman who was in Waterfall bar, having met Kate for a drink and to deliver her English goodies. Mark joined us later, saying he had just seen my reprobate parents at Tez bar but they were making their way over to join us. Charlie loved Waterfall bar and had been made very welcome by the owners and customers, including Skippy, the dog. My parents arrived, closely followed by John and Andrea, and they were very merry. When Gay Gaz and Engin arrived, Charlie recognised Gaz and was super excited to see him. He was trying to jump across the table to get to him but when they were reunited Charlie was licking Gaz’s face and smothering him with kisses. It was quite sweet to see Charlie like this, as not many people are that pleased to see Gay Gaz arrive in a bar in Dalyan. Charlie was very well behaved and enjoyed his outing to the pub but we had to get back for dinner. Captain Caveman and I had diet pizzas and an early night. Charlie slept in Helen’s bed with his toy sloth and I hoped that meant he wouldn’t be tempted to shit in the house again.
On the morning of Wednesday 30th November, I really enjoyed my cup of Yorkshire tea but, unfortunately, Captain Caveman wasn’t in a good way. He’d slipped up the stairs last night and now his knee was giving him some gyp. I had to take him painkillers, buttered crumpets and water to bed and I decided to have cheese spread on my 1 crumpet. I had promised to be at Charlie’s, before his owners left for the airport, at 12.30pm but it was obvious that Captain Caveman would not be coming with me. I finished off some tasks, packed my bag and said goodbye to Captain Caveman, he was hoping to be able to make it over to Charlie’s later. I had my wellies on for the first time this year as the ground was wet, rain was expected and I was probably going to get muddy walking Charlie, the dog. After saying goodbye to the owners, I petted Charlie and did a little unpacking. I had been allocated the daughter’s lovely bedroom but there wasn’t any space in the wardrobe. In fact, I had not seen such a full wardrobe in my life! I decided to leave my clothes in my rucksack and get them out as I needed them. Before the rain came again, I walked Charlie round the block but he didn’t seem very keen on going out. He walked fine on his lead but was quite nervous when he saw or heard other dogs. I left him at home while I went to Fat Club and as I left I decided to check the key worked as I had been warned it can be a bit tricky. I couldn’t get back in but I was running late for Fat Club so I went anyway. On the scales, I was disappointed to find last night’s frivolity had taken its toll, I had put on 0.3kg (less than a lb) this week. After Fat Club, Kate, who has the same type of door at her’s, came to help me try the key – it worked. Charlie was pleased to see me but then I left him again while I went to Rehab bar to meet Adele about Turkish class. She too had quit the class when it moved to a morning one and wanted to join the Friday one. We joined the others for a drink at Rehab and Captain Caveman called me to find out where I was. He was feeling better so was coming over to Rehab bar and he joined Mark, Wolfie and Tay to play pool. Back at Charlie’s, he was super excited to see us both and I took some photos to send to the owner for when she landed. We had a tomato based curry I’d made for dinner with some ready rice, as I hadn’t got my trusty rice cooker with me. Charlie, the 4 year old Turkish puppy dog, was definitely going to be great to look after and would keep us entertained until the end of the year!
Advantages •You get free pets to look after •You don’t pay any bills for electric or internet •You have a new local pub and can meet new people •There may be better facilities/bigger accommodation •Some owners leave you food, beer and/or wine •Some have a cleaner •Prevents me from going out or drinking as much as usual •I spend less because I’m not as near to shops or bars •Quieter environment (no Jazz Bar)! •Getting more fresh air and exercise
Disadvantages •Living out of a bag or suitcase •Not having your usual things (e.g. kitchen equipment) •Being further away from home/town •Having to be super organised with belongings •Not having enough fridge/freezer/cupboard/wardrobe space •Other people’s washing machines don’t always have the same settings (no quick wash) •When there are no cleaners you have to do it yourself, despite having a cleaner at home •Lack of lighting and plug sockets in the right places •Still having to go back and forth between own house for stuff •You are still paying electric and internet on your existing home •You are used to your own shower and other people’s are often not as good or easy to use •Feeling like you can’t properly relax as you’re in someone else’s house •Having to get taxis home if you go out of an evening so that you’re not walking home in the dark after drinking •I have less time to spend with family and friends •Missing my own comfy sofa/bed/pillows •Having to double up on things you buy which are at the other house (shower gel, washing up liquid, washing powder, drinking water) •When friends come to stay they are in the original house so more arranging needs to be done for meeting up •Not having a desk •Only having 1 set of keys between the 2 of us, when Captain Caveman joins me. •Having more power cuts and slower WiFi than at home
While Captain Caveman was on his way back from London to Dalyan, on Tuesday 29th November, I was doing my best to finish as much stuff as possible so that we could go out and play later. I’d spent the last 2 days at home, had zero alcohol and had not spent anything. I had cereal for breakfast and the remaining pasta for lunch before I headed off for an appointment. Unfortunately, this meant I had to miss singing group in the afternoon and instead I went to see some friends about a house and dog sitting arrangement. My Mom and Vanessa still went to singing group so at least they had each other to get into trouble with. Charlie, the dog, recognised me from before and was very friendly so I knew we would get on fine. Captain Caveman and I would be moving in to his apartment tomorrow and would look after Charlie for a bit. While I was there I got a message from Captain Caveman to say he was home and I headed back to meet him. When I got there, having past a bicycle on a gate and a big black cockerel, the kitchen table had lots of goodies on it and the freezer was being stocked with even more. Captain Caveman had brought back grub screws, cheese, bacon, crumpets, muffins, sausages, a proper Yorkshire pudding tin, freezer bags, a fish slice, silicone pan lids, hoops for poaching eggs in (apparently called poachettes), chopping boards and, best of all, 210 Yorkshire Tea teabags! I was very interested to see how the prices were in the UK as I hadn’t been back for almost a year so I took Captain Caveman’s receipts to check out the details. Here’s a list of what Captain Caveman bought in England and the prices in pounds;
He also bought some meat, galangal and lemongrass back for Kate, as you can never have enough. We really didn’t need those lids from IKEA for £12, nor the new chopping boards when we already had some. I wouldn’t use the rings for poaching eggs either so they would be redundant until at least September 2023. It was amazing how he got all this and his clothes in his hand luggage, but I was very happy that he had.
Seeing the teabags made me actually cry tears of joy and Captain Caveman couldn’t stop laughing at me! To cheer me up even further he suggested drinks with Ma & Pa at Tez bar so I texted Ma to see if they were available. She didn’t answer so we decided to go there anyway and, when we arrived, my parents were already there, sat with some of the usual frequenters. They had taken to having an early bar recently so I should have known they would be there. After a couple of drinks we decided to go to Duble for dinner to celebrate Captain Caveman’s return. I tried to order sensibly to help the diet I was meant to be on, so I had lentil soup and a chicken shish. Of course the main dish comes with chips, rice, salad and flat bread, with oil and butter used in the cooking, but it was better than some of the dishes I could have had. Dad and Captain Caveman had some delicious looking potato croquettes and we had wine with our meal. We had a complimentary hot beverage to finish off our meal and were home before 10.30pm having had a lovely night. Tomorrow we would be taking on another canine responsibility that was just so cute!
Having not slept too well, I was treated to breakfast at Mark and Kate’s on Sunday 27th November. Kate seemed in fairly good spirits considering she had gone home for an early night and it had turned out anything but. We said bye to Julius and Toni and then Mark and I went to drop off some lemon grass at Janet and Kevin’s on the way to take me home on the mobility scooter. When I did get home, I went straight back to bed for a couple of hours as my body ached from too much dancing at last night’s Bistro Blue party. I ate the Spice Garden curry for lunch as it was too tempting to save it and I generally pottered about at home. I vaguely recalled saying I’d go to watch Dalyan Spor play football at home but I hate football and can’t think why I would have said yes. I didn’t go and was glad as I managed to get some chores done. I was still busy doing stuff at 1am and had only stopped to have a diet pizza.
I was on the laptop all morning on Monday 28th November, it was cold and raining so I had to put the Air Con on heat mode. The living area was full of wet clothes that I was trying to get dry before Captain Caveman came back tomorrow. For lunch I had a Slimming World friendly pasta with quark, which Katherine had shared at the Fat Club group, and it was very tasty and filling. I made arrangements to visit friends tomorrow about house and dog sitting for them while they went to England. That evening I had a quiet night with a pumpkin based curry and no alcohol, for a second day.
While Captain Caveman went Dogging, I got ready for Jamie and Drew’s return on Thursday 3rd November. I stripped the bed and put a wash on then made sure the house was tidy and packed ready to leave. Norman and Edna were excited to be having their owners back home and were a little bit giddy when they saw my rucksack. We sat outside in the lovely sunshine and every time a car came near, the dogs thought it might be Jamie’s taxi. When at last they did arrive, the dogs were so happy.
I didn’t stay long as I had another appointment to get to; I was off to Mark and Kate’s for more house and pet sitting while they had a couple of days away. After buying more credit for my Turkish phone, I met Captain Caveman along the way. I parked Daisy, my bicycle, up outside Rehab bar and we went in to Sosyete for a bite to eat. We both had a pide served with a lovely complimentary pomegranate salad which was all delicious – I’d not noticed before but they don’t serve alcohol. At Bumming today the volunteers had very sadly found a dead turtle and cleaned up lots of rubbish from the river areas so Captain Caveman had certainly worked up a good appetite. He wasn’t joining me at Mark and Kate’s this time, firstly because of his cat allergy and secondly, because our friend, Rob, was coming to visit us tomorrow and he wanted to get the apartment prepared. We called at Migros where Captain Caveman bought a bottle of the red wine, Fiona, recommended by Linda, but he took that with him.
I was at Mark and Kate’s in time for the cat feeding and I let myself in as I already had a key. My bedroom had been made to look very cosy and had an overzealous amount of cushions. Unfortunately one of the younger cats startled poor Casha, who’s only got one eye, and she ended up hiding in the crisp box for the rest of the night. When I went to bed I tried to download something to watch on Netflix but I got an error message. As I updated my diary I realised I had already had double the weekly syn allowance and it was only Thursday. Still, I’d had no alcohol today which was a bonus. I went to sleep fairly early, knowing I’d be up at 7am tomorrow to feed the cats.
I had intended to weigh myself and do my measurements on the morning of Wednesday 2nd November, on account of me being due at Fat Club in the afternoon. However, I was still at Jamie’s without my scales and tape measure so it would have to be a surprise when I got there. After slow walks because of my injured toes, then a 4 syn breakfast of bread with hazelnut and tahini dip, I spent time with Norman and Edna. I have always thought that when my hair was down I resembled a King Charles spaniel somewhat, so I took some selfies with Edna – I had clearly found my animal! I drank a fair bit of water before Fat Club and was doing my best to avoid eating anything else before weigh in. Unfortunately, at 2.10pm I got peckish and ate a slice of cheese on toast which I definitely shouldn’t have had. At Fat Club my weigh-in wasn’t as bad as I was expecting and I had lost 0.3kg which was not even a pound, but still a loss. I treated myself to a small glass of soda water with ice and lemon for 20 lira (just less than £1), returned the last book I had borrowed, and chose another one, full of exciting recipes to spur me on a bit. Of course Captain Caveman thought it was hilarious that I’d lost 300g and said he could put that on and lose it within hours. Feeling a bit disheartened, but not surprised, I had 2 beers then a small glass of wine later on. Norman and Edna were really entertaining this evening too. I made the mistake of trying to tell them that Daddy was coming home tomorrow and I think they understood. Norman had an extreme fascination with licking my legs and just would not stop. Jamie reckons Edna is the licker in the family but I beg to differ. For dinner we had left over sausage cassoulet which says it serves 4 in the recipe but they never do with a Captain Caveman involved. The portions were small but we managed and Captain Caveman had plenty of bread with his.
My day started badly on Tuesday 1st November, when I kicked the coffee table with 3 toes at once. It hurt and I knew I had broken at least one toe. Luckily Captain Caveman was on dog walking duties so I only had to get myself to Turkish class for 10am and I was cycling. I couldn’t speak to our Turkish teacher for help with the electric meter issues because she had other people to help and her next class. Instead, I made a phone call to Aydem to try to get it sorted, again. They told me that they couldn’t see any reason for cutting the communal pool and garden electric off and that the payment had been made so they seemed as confused as me. They told me that they really couldn’t do much without a paper bill and said there should be some appearing this week, if not already. I ate left over chicken casserole, with white beans in, for lunch and decided to do a tally of all of the electricity which Captain Caveman had paid for this year. He’d never asked any other apartment for their contribution to the communal electric and had no intention of doing so. I sent him all the info which took me an hour to collate, in a way that made sense. Interestingly, the bills for the pool and garden had been zero from February to June, once again showing that no one had used any pool or garden electricity until probably May, this year. July’s payment was double that of June’s when the pool was likely to have been used more too. For some reason the August and September payments were never requested by Aydem with Captain Caveman’s bank but October’s payment was less than July’s. I didn’t get a reply or acknowledgement from Captain Caveman so I went to singing group with Mom, Vanessa and Kate. In addition to some of the usual songs, we sang ‘Both sides now’ and ‘City of New Orleans’. Back ‘home’ I sunbathed with Norman on the patio while Captain Caveman tried to check the meter cupboard at his own apartment for a paper bill. For the first time in years the cupboard was locked and no one had a key for it. On his way home he went to Migros as we were running low on Norman’s turkey ham, used for hiding his tablets in. He bought a packet of turkey ham, cherry juice and orange juice for a total of 86 lira (£4.09). That night we had sausage cassoulet with carrots and potatoes and I resisted the wine. Captain Caveman drank quite a bit of it as he was annoyed at the never ending communal electric issue.
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.
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.
