On Sunday 20th November I had to rectify my diet quick sharp! I had plums and some bread for breakfast, and a tea with milk. Captain Caveman was in Sheffield but I didn’t speak to him so I wasn’t sure if he was catching up with any of my friends, back home. For lunch I had pasta bolognese and then the rain came down heavily. For dinner I had something a bit different, bolognese on a wrap, like a pizza, with some cheese. I had no alcohol because I’d had a week’s worth last night!
My day was very productive on Monday 21st November. I was up bright and early, had cereal for breakfast then I bought an 8GB data package for my phone and generally got prepared for a workshop tomorrow morning. I had red onion soup for lunch and planned to go to bed early so that I would have enough sleep before my 3.30am appointment, tomorrow. Tonight, England was playing Iran in the football world cup but I wanted to be asleep before then. I had a lovely jacket potato with bolognese and was about to settle down for the evening when I got a few last minute updates to deal with. Storms were due so I had charged everything up and got a Plan B in place.
I didn’t get to bed until stupid o’clock on Tuesday 22nd November because of all the last minute faffing about with changes for the workshop. I was awake at 2.30am with more last minute updates and horrendous storms outside. At 3.30am I logged in to the call and I could hear everyone but by 4am, as we were meant to be starting the workshop, there was a technical hitch. I was distraught as I’d spent so much time and effort preparing for this only for me to miss the first part, due to circumstances beyond my control. By 4.30am I could hear everything and had to sit back, watch and listen. The workshop went well and a great set of speakers, who we learned from. By 8am (which was midday in Vietnam) the workshop was finishing and I had my last Yorkshire tea bag in a cup of hot tea to make me feel better. I ate a cheese sandwich, made chicken stock in the slow cooker and was off back to bed. When I woke back up it was only an hour later and I probably could have gone to singing group but I was super tired and not in the mood. I had some noodles for lunch and got out a hotpot for dinner then went back to bed again. The sun was now out, I couldn’t sleep and by 5.30pm there were flood warnings for the area. I didn’t stay up long after eating dinner and, as I fell asleep that night, the rain had been coming down heavily again.
Wednesday 23rd November started with a nice sunrise at 07:54 and cheese on toast for breakfast (but without a cup of tea). I’d arranged to meet friends at the tea garden to discuss a dog sitting situation that was coming up soon but we cancelled due to more heavy rain. I was in two minds as to whether I would go to Fat Club in such a downpour but I decided no matter how much I had fell off the wagon or been naughty I would go. I decided not to have lunch before I went and instead had a couple of cups of winter tea, despite it being 24°C in the apartment. When I got on the scales at Fat Club I was pleased to have lost 0.9kg, so I was doing ok. The rain eased off a little so I decided to walk round to my parents’ place. Halfway there the heavy rain came again and I was a bit damp when I arrived. I saw their new toaster, which Chris and Jackie had ordered for them, and they were pleased that Dad no longer had to stick a knife in to get his toast out each morning. I had a beer with my parents and the rain got worse. I eventually decided to go for it and left before 7.30pm, despite my mom saying to stay as it was too wet out. I borrowed an umbrella and once outside I didn’t think it was too bad. When I got home my trousers, shoes and socks were soaked so came straight off. I put my masaman curry on and jumped in the shower to warm up a bit.
I kept Thursday 24th November I saw a post on Instagram for Bistro Blue saying that they were going to be having a Christmas party at the Winter fayre which looked like a good idea. It was cloudy but not rainy today, I messaged my parents and a few friends to let them know about the Christmas party. I had a pasta bake for lunch and by the afternoon the weather was sunny again. For dinner I had beans on toast and some roasted chestnuts later on. I’d done better than I expected at cutting down on eating and drinking, Captain Caveman was due back on Tuesday so I just had the weekend to get through.
On the morning of Thursday 17th November I did some work on my preparation for a training workshop next week. I had buttered toast and pomegranate juice for breakfast and by 11.30am the sky looked full of rain. I was down to my last few Yorkshire teabags so I reminded Captain Caveman to buy more from England. He’d been away almost 5 days now and I’d not had a phone call yet from him so he was obviously too busy absorbing life back in the UK. I decided to try making a Slimming World friendly chicken and broccoli pasta bake, using the chicken from the butcher’s and I made quite a lot of it. I had a portion for lunch and it was very nice, I put some in the fridge and some in the freezer. For dinner I used the last of the roast chicken on a quesadilla, I’d managed to make the chicken in to 4 days worth of meals but had made more than 8 portions, easily. And I had a tub of chicken stock in the freezer now for future meals. I had some plain popcorn and an apple as a snack and watched a bit of Netflix before bed.
Friday 18th November was a bit of a different kind of a day for me. I got weighed at home, although my scales differ to the Fat Club scales, to find I’d put weight on, I did my weekly measurements and I’d lost 3cm from my waist and 1cm from my hips. I had cereal and Yorkshire tea with milk for breakfast then got ready for an appointment. I was tired and my eczema was bad today, I made Bolognese in the slow cooker so that I could have pasta and a hotpot from it. I was meant to be going to my new Turkish lesson at 2pm and I had switched from Tuesday morning to a Friday afternoon as it suited me better. I had a slice of cheese on toast for lunch and then Captain Caveman called me. He was freezing, sat in a tented structure in Kendal and said Josh was watching a film so he’d come to call me. I ended up missing my Turkish class and was gutted as I look forward to it. Sofra bar had reopened, Friday night was approaching and I’d finished everything I needed to for the week. Usually that would be my cue to get my shoes on and go out but not this week, I was trying my best to be good. I now had a freezer full of meals for next week, plenty in the fridge and a hotpot with such a thin layer of potatoes (no butter) it was silly. There was a storm due tonight so I had pasta Bolognese for dinner and treated myself to a gin and cherry juice.
The weather forecast for Monday 14th November looked nice with a high of 23°C. I was meant to be going with my parents on a trip to Ortaca but, unfortunately, I had decided not to go. Vanessa had let me know that Matt had tested positive for Covid, after feeling unwell for a couple of days. The best thing to do was to cancel my plans in case Vanessa had caught it and /or passed it on to me without us realising. I finished batching up my various soups and sauces for the fridge and freezer then I got an invite to Kate’s birthday party on Wednesday. Vanessa and I both decided to do Covid tests and we were both negative, which was good because I needed to have more than just soup in the house. I decided to go shopping, in case I started to get poorly. Here’s what I bought at the supermarket:
The exchange rate was now 22 lira to the pound which was the highest I’d known it. I bought a notebook at the stationers for 40 lira, a months worth of contraceptive pills for 115 lira from the pharmacy and a cooked chicken for 80 lira at the butcher’s. My total spend for the day was 509.57 lira (£23.16) and I had so far managed to avoid going to a bar or having any alcohol. When I got home I noticed that my Turkish phone had a text on it from Aydem from this morning saying they had closed the job. I went to check the meter and they had not done anything at all, I was so annoyed with them! It was a good job it was winter and we didn’t need any communal electric on, although I did notice that the roses at B1 and the route between A and B Block was now looking a lot more overgrown and would need more than kitchen scissors. For lunch I had a salad with about a quarter of the roast chicken, without the skin, then put the bones and skin in a tub to make stock. Later my parents were out at Tez bar but I resisted the urge to go out for a drink and stayed in. I wanted to have lost some weight this week and I knew if I went to join them I would definitely find it difficult to resist the booze or eating out. I added some of the chicken to a couple of portions of pumpkin and lentil base for dinner and added spinach and chopped tomatoes for a nice curry with steamed rice. I resisted a beer out of the fridge!
I had marked in my diary that the restaurant Duble was reopening on Tuesday 15th November, but it didn’t. This was good news for my diet and reducing the amount of booze I drank. I didn’t have any breakfast and I noticed we were running low on freezer bags so I messaged Captain Caveman to add them to his list of things to bring back. He’s bad at keeping in touch when we are apart but I got a thumbs up. I went to Turkish lessons, Vanessa was unable to come so I messaged her with the homework later. For lunch I had the curry but with a warmed up wrap instead of rice. I ate yoghurt with figs and honey as a dessert and then went to call for mom to go to singing. Vanessa and Kate couldn’t come and there was still no sign of Gay Gaz joining the group. I’m not quite sure what had got in to the singing crowd today but there were a few more choices of different, more lively, songs; I have a Dream, Wonderful Tonight, When you say Nothing at all, The Boxer, Moon River, I’d Like to Teach the World to sing, Will you Still Love me Tomorrow and there was a request for The House of the Rising Sun. Peter and I had added it to the request book but some people at the other end of the table decided we weren’t singing it, for some reason. I readded it to the list and we did sing it but I noticed a few members of the group not joining in. After singing, Mom and I went to buy Kate’s birthday present ready for tomorrow then we each went home. For dinner I had chicken and vegetables with noodles then some popcorn while watching a selling houses series on Netflix. It was a nice cosy evening until I went to bed and decided I needed a winter quilt on the bed. Captain Caveman had moved all of our 6 quilts around so it ended up taking me quite some time to get the right bedding out and reorganise the linen cupboard. It was my 3rd night without alcohol so I was hoping it would have made a difference at Fat Club tomorrow.
Captain Caveman was packed and ready for an 18 day trip to the UK on Saturday 12th November. He made his own breakfast and I had cereal a bit later on. The electric meter issue was still not resolved so I called Aydem again and this time I felt like they were listening, understood and were going to fix it. They agreed to send someone out, gave me a job reference via text and Captain Caveman could leave, happy it would all get sorted – I still wasn’t holding my breath! Captain Caveman’s taxi with Fikri was booked for 11.30am so we still had some time to go to the bank and the chemist. Kate had messaged to ask if I could pick her up some more dressings and some veg, Captain Caveman was still suffering with a cold so he bought some flu medicine to take with him. He’d not seen his parents for quite some time so he was looking forward to seeing them, as well as attending the screening of A Crack in the Mountain, the Phong Nha film at the Kendal Film Festival.
After saying goodbye to Captain Caveman, I went to the weekly market with my parents and here’s what I bought:
I was meant to have bought a cauliflower too but, because I didn’t put it in to one of the plastic bags, the stall holder didn’t think I wanted to buy it and put it back, rather than in my shopping bag. While Captain Caveman flew from Dalaman to Luton I walked over to Kate’s. Mark was at Rehab bar for pool afternoon with the lads so I was taking her some dressings, spinach and tuna. We had a good natter and Kate gave me a couple of pairs of jeans, they were a bit snug but with all the weight I’d be losing I felt sure they’d soon fit better. I just drank water while there and on the way back I called in for 1 drink at Rehab bar. John was meant to be in Mark’s team at pool but Andrea had turned up so he was leaving. He asked me to play his game and I was surprised to see Tay and Wolfie beat Mark and I so easily. Mark and Wolfie were still playing pool at 7pm when I went home to cook up a nice dinner made from leftovers, pleased I’d managed to go to a bar ‘just for one’. I used the half portion of beef casserole, which I’d had in the freezer from Duble. I had it with steamed rice and it was delicious.
When I woke up on Sunday 13th November, there had been an earthquake in Rhodes at 5.30am this morning but our friends Steve and Michelle, who live there, were fine – in fact they hadn’t even noticed. I decided to have a bit of a soup making day, I tried the Slimming World slow cooker red onion soup which is super easy to make and smells amazing. I also roasted some pumpkin to make a base for soup, or curry which I would add lentils and Kate’s curry paste to. Vanessa came over in the afternoon and we did our Turkish homework together. She’d also brought me a piece of writing she had done from after her operation, which we’d been talking about. When I read it, I cried, it was well written, interesting and so emotional. At 5.15pm Vanessa had to get off because she had a family call. I was still batch cooking up more soup, after having a delicious bowl of the red onion one, then made a diet friendly pizza. While Captain Caveman was away I was going to use the time to my advantage to try to lose weight by not drinking, eating things I shouldn’t and spending too much money. I was on a mission and, although yesterday I had 1 beer and spent 122 lira (£5.68), today I had drank no alcohol and spent nothing. I stayed up until after midnight watching some murder series on Netflix, tomorrow I had a busy day planned.
We woke up on Sunday 16th October after a cracking storm and were looking forward to an easy day. Captain Caveman went to the bakery for a fresh loaf and a simit, which we had for breakfast with cheese and jams. I popped a sausage casserole in to the slow cooker and checked we had enough potatoes and flour to do roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings with it. A lady who was interested in Amanda and Greg’s table, but had not showed up last night because she had mistakenly gone to Ruby rooms during the storm, was going to try again and come today. When she arrived with her Turkish boyfriend, who still had his pyjamas on (which were inside out) she had a broken arm and the table was too big. They ended up stood in our kitchen for ages chatting and it transpired that Greg had not put the measurements of the table on the advertising post. Captain Caveman measured it and sent him the details to amend his post to include measurements which should have been included. During all this, my parents had woken up with no power and were trying to get sorted out. It had turned out that their power supply had been struck by lightning in last night’s storm and they may be without electricity for some time. My mom said they would manage without but I was having none of it and insisted they pack some things and come to stay with us. Luckily the spare room was prepared for guests and they like sausage casserole. It turned out to be another good night with rather too much wine and they brought rum too. My Yorkshire puddings didn’t rise as much as I wanted them too so I was disappointed but we ate them all. I even saved some mixture in the fridge for tomorrow. As we were in bed, about to go to sleep, I got a message asking about the table and could we sell it for less, I said no and went to sleep.
On Monday 17th October Captain Caveman was pleased as we got to have pancakes for breakfast. My parents were going to go home but they wouldn’t even be able to have a cup of tea with their electric being off. Dad had plain pancakes with honey, the rest of us had savoury pancakes with mushroom, spinach and cheese. After breakfast, we got all the washing done and pottered about a bit while my parents went home to check what was happening with the power. Someone was coming to replace the transformer today, which was rather prompt and they would have power back on today. For lunch we had dips and veggies with olives in an effort to be a bit healthier. While I got involved with another potential table buyer, Captain Caveman booked a flight back to the UK for 12th November. I got a message from a random man to tell me he was at Lukka bar, sent by the woman who wanted the table for less money, and was trying to find our apartments. I went to Lukka bar and he wasn’t there but I also got calls from a Turkish man saying he was there too. Appo, at Lukka bar, said no one had been and they definitely weren’t there but when I finally worked it out they were in Çalış, not Dalyan. Really?!!! Captain Caveman made pasta for dinner and we had a night in front of the TV for the first time since Captain Caveman had got to Dalyan. We started to watcher ‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’.
I didn’t have breakfast until 11.15am on Saturday 28th May, mainly because I was super tired from all the excitement of the past few days. I was also struggling to put weight on my big toe and had to cancel a proposed trip to the market with my parents. They did bring me some strawberries and cherries as a treat, which I was grateful for. I had less than a week left in Dalyan so plans for a bit of a leaving celebration were underway. Kate had very kindly agreed to organise my send off and had already started to message everyone for a party on Thursday. About 5pm I decided to venture out on Bluey2 as I needed to go to the ATM. I found it easy to cycle but not so easy to walk so I went on to Rehab bar to meet up with the pool gang. By the time I got there, not many people were left so I got to join in the game of Killer with Matt, Adam, Wolfie and Mark and I wasn’t the worst player of the day! Tayfur had installed a draught pump so that Efes was now available on tap and I had to try a couple to make sure it was up to scratch – it was. After Rehab, I went home for a homemade dinner of bacon pasta, another of my items from Dick which I was looking forward to having. I treated myself to cheese (also from my recent English delivery) with Quinoa crackers later too, before an early night. Tomorrow was going to turn out to be another food-lovers paradise!
Friday 22nd April was one of those days that we will probably remember for a very long time! A few of us were off on a trip to Fethiye and we were all excited, having booked rooms at the Infinity hotel. I’d already agreed to go ten pin bowling, even though I’m not really a fan, and I was also hoping there may be an opportunity for a Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is one of the few fast food eateries I really enjoy. Mark, Kate and I got a taxi from their’s in to town and went to the tea gardens for a quick beverage before meeting the others at the bus stop at 10.20am. We got the 10.30am bus to Ortaca and then changed at the bus station to the bus to Fethiye. The entire journey took about 1.5 hours and cost less than 50 lira (£2.67) each. We got off the bus at the Erasta shopping centre and headed straight for the food hall section upstairs. The gang went for several different options; İskender kebap at the traditional Turkish food restaurant, a burger stall and pides. Vanessa and I plumped for a 2 piece KFC meal with gravy. I’d last eaten a KFC 5 days before Christmas in 2020 in this exact same location and I was so looking forward to it. I loved it and it was quite a bargain too compared to a UK one and wasn’t as greasy. At the bowling alley Vanessa took charge of our booking while Mark had a go on a boxing game. It cost less than £5 each for a couple of bowling games and we split the teams in to two. I was the only one to start with a strike but then it went downhill from there. We were all in good spirits, some of us more competitive than others. In our team Matt won and Mark won in the other team. It was a great afternoon and despite me not liking bowling that much I really enjoyed myself. We decided to walk to the hotel which was situated in the centre of Fethiye and would take about 20 minutes. There were road works, we all had bags and after a few minutes we flagged down a taxi. The intention was for some of us to get in while Mark, Kate and Matt walked. The taxi driver was having none of that idea and proceeded to pile all 7 of us, and the bags, in to his taxi. He even pulled alongside a fellow cab driver and joked he could fit 3 more people in as we weaved through the busy streets of Fethiye, some of the passengers on their knees/going backwards/clinging on for their life.
We got out of the taxi a short walk from the Infinity Hotel, feeling lucky to have survived. The taxi driver told me it was 70 lira so I paid it but Kate, who must have been the most relieved to be in one piece, took my 70 and gave him a 100 note! We gave ourselves half an hour to get ready at the hotel then the plan was to go for a cheeky pint. I heard the instructions to meet in reception at 4pm so we could then have a stroll to the nearby Deep Blue Bar. The room was lovely with a nice (but small) bathroom where I jumped in the shower then put on my frock – I suspected we might end up out out! Three of us sat in reception waiting for the rest of the gang for a few minutes before realising they had all been chomping at the bit and had already gone to the pub. Luckily, I remembered the way (kind of) and we were there in no time. Mark, Kate and Matt had beer already and Vanessa was having white wine and soda. We got a drinks menu but then I saw a sign which advertised draft Guinness for 50 lira (£2.65) a pint until 9pm so all 3 of us were up for that. The last time the 3 of us had enjoyed a pint of cold Guinness together was 4 years ago in Singapore at a bar called Muddy Murphy’s. Everything was great, we’d had a lovely day and now we were relaxed with our drinks, enjoying each other’s company away from Dalyan, feeling like we were on holiday. A young couple were sat on the next table and obviously we got chatting; they were on holiday from Rhodes but originally from the Midlands and London. Before long we had become a group of 9 and had managed to cheese off the only other customer in Deep Blue bar with our loudness and laughter. Our Guinness went down extremely well and I’d had 3 pints of it before I thought it wise to switch to beer. Luckily someone had the sensible idea that we should probably eat food so we all went to the nearby Duck Pond for dinner and we invited our new friends, Steve & Michelle. We also decided to reserve our table back at Deep Blue bar for 8pm for after our meal. Looking back, most of the Dalyan gang were already on our merry way by the time we ordered food – in less than 4 hours things were about to take a turn for the worst.
The meal at the Duck Pond was pretty good from what I remember, despite the fountain wetting a couple of people who were sat the nearest to it. Some people had starters, others just mains and even an octopus salad was eaten. The service was good and the prices weren’t bad. Having shared a bottle of red wine with Mark during the meal at Duck Pond, on top of the 3 pints of Guiness and 2 pints of Carlsberg, I was probably drunk. However, that didn’t stop us all going back to Deep Blue bar for more drinks. I decided that sticking to red wine now would be the best bet, our table was reserved and more people joined us, including Mark and Kate’s friends from Fethiye.
Matt was the first to take himself off to bed as he’s not one for drinking too much. Kate was the next one to want to retire for the evening and she told Mark she wanted to go to bed. He was not having any of that suggestion and had now gone on to drinking Guinness. The live band were very good and we all got up to dance, the ladies were treated to a spot of gyrating and twirling from our new mate, Steve, as we twisted and jived about the dancefloor. I had just come back to our table for a drink, leaving Mom, Vanessa and Fethiye’s answer to Ricky Martin, giving it their moves on the dancefloor, when it happened. Our new friend, Steve, and Vanessa were on the floor! It all happened so fast but Steve was in pain and he said to Vanessa that he thought he had broken something. He was instructed to not move, the ambulance was called and we were all in shock. It felt like ages for the emergency services to get there but it wasn’t really and Fethiye has a good hospital quite near to the bar so he was going to be looked after. They stretchered him out to a standing ovation and his wife went with him to the ambulance.
None of us would have predicted the irony of my Mom telling Steve to be careful because she had a bad hip and ankle as they had danced to ‘Stand by Me’.
The rest of us seemed to have sobered up somewhat so we did the only sensible thing and drank some more. Kate took herself back to the hotel and there was talk of the rest of us leaving at some point. Vanessa had said she didn’t think anyone would be allowed in the hospital due to Corona restrictions and she was correct. Michelle was back, with her husband’s shoe in her hand and upset that they wouldn’t even let her in to the ambulance. I did the only thing I could think of that might help; I ordered the tequila shots! She and I had a couple of Tequila shots and, as Vanessa, Ma & Pa went back to the hotel we thought it was a good idea to have more drinks. The night finished with Mark, Michelle and I ordering a bottle of red wine which they uncorked for us, and took it back to the hotel to drink – it never occurred to any of us that this might be a bad idea.
I woke up on Thursday 30th December at 8am having been cold in the night and it was less than 15°C and dark. I went to Tez bar at 10am for my PCR test, on my way round I took a photo of the progress of the villa on the building site next door. I didn’t have any internet at home as it had lapsed on Christmas day, I needed to top up my phone credit and I ought to buy bread, there are no rules in Turkey about having to have a PCR test on entry but I wanted to be sure, so that I could get on with going out and about. After my test I went to the Turkcell shop where I found out my phone needed to be registered in Ortaca, which I couldn’t do until my PCR results. Here in Turkey all foreign phones have to be registered if you are here after 3 months and it costs more in tax than my phone is worth so I was reluctant to bother with having a phone for now. I managed to extend my home internet for another 2 months and was told the price would be going up by 20% for 2022. On my way back home I bought bread and a simit for breakfast from the local bakery. Tez had said he would try to give me my results the same day but it would definitely be within 24 hours so I got on with unpacking, washing and various bits and bobs at home. I had a plain turkey ham sandwich for lunch, then got my remaining Morrison’s cherry bakewells out to have one for dessert, and was glad I had left the fridge freezer on with some food in so I didn’t have to go shoping straight away. The Turkish lira was now at 18 lira to the pound meaning my money was worth almost a third of what it was and prices in Dalyan were constantly being readjusted. While I had been away it had gone up to over 24 and the locals were really suffering. It was raining heavily all day and it was Bryan’s mom’s birthday today but I couldn’t join my friends yet, just to be on the safe side. Another friend of their’s, Jesper, who I also met in Vietnam was arriving tonight and I wouldn’t be able to join them until my result came back. I had a sore throat and was feeling a bit tired so I had another Turkey ham sandwich, a cherry bakewell, crisps and a couple of herbal teas with honey to sort me out. That evening I found out that my sister had tested positive, with no symptoms, on a lateral flow test and Sumo the dog had a funny cough/sneeze going on so I was a bit nervous for my PCR result from Tez. It came through at just after 10.30pm, so not bad for a 12.5 hour turn around at 300 lira (£16.70) and it was both good news and bad news! Although the document said negative on it, there was an additional comment that it wasn’t a suitable document to fly with, when I asked he said it was because my result was inconclusive and I had to isolate until they could do another test on Saturday!
Friday 31st December, the last day of a pretty unpredictable year, was not as planned either! My friends Mik, Hamish & Ania, Bryan & Kendra and Jesper were all in Dalyan to help celebrate the new year with me. Ann’s family were here too and we had plans for us all to go for a curry at Spice Garden. Due to the Corona situation Ann decided to cancel her small group and have a curry delivered at home. My friends were still going to go but, due to my inconclusive PCR result I had to cancel and isolate until tomorrow. I was gutted to have to cancel all our plans, including my hair appointment and hoped I could move it to another day before or on my birthday! On the Dalyan Corona heat map it was showing lots of cases at the moment and my hairdresser was fine for me to cancel and he moved Ania forward to 3pm. I decided to do an LFT, which I had brought with me and the result was negative, although I still felt incredibly tired and poorly. It was weigh-in day so, having had a monstrous consumption last week, I was not surprised that I had put on 0.75kg making me 1.75kg heavier than when I left Turkey for the Christmas holiday – not too bad I suppose and definitely worth all the food and drink I had! I was very happy to speak to Captain Caveman and he had been given his new schedule for 2022. As we expected, it would take a miracle for me to see him before September 2022 so we both resigned ourselves to that. Luckily we are both practical people and there wasn’t anything we could do about the situation, except to get on with it – I knew this might be the case when I chose to leave Vietnam and it was the risk we had to take if I wanted to see my family and friends and to look for paid work. Vietnam was slowly starting to open up but the likelihood of me getting back there, as a UK citizen, or for longer than a 30 day tourist visa were zero right now. I didn’t have any breakfast but I did have a hot sausage roll and red cabbage for lunch, I’d received offers of help with shopping (if I needed anything) from Jamie, Katrina and Tez so I felt fine plus I was fully stocked up in the freezer which I was so grateful for. In the afternoon I started to feel a bit run down and I looked pretty tired so I connected 2 Phong Nha friends together after discovering they were both in Dubai and didn’t know each other, I made chicken fajitas in the slow cooker, using one of the packet mixes I’d brought back from the UK and got on with organising our planned boat trips in early January, assuming I would be negative for Corona and we would all be able to go. This was also the second day in a row that I had no alcohol whatsoever as I wasn’t feeling up to it. I struggled to keep awake for the new year but once in bed I sent messages to family and then fell asleep before the UK midnight!
Jamie’s alarm went off at 5am on Wednesday 29th December and he went in the shower, my alarm went off at 5.20am and I had a bit of a panic. I had been dreaming that my passport was lost so I checked my bag, pockets, the set of printed documents and it wasn’t there. I went out in to the corridor, in my pyjamas and barefoot to the chair I had been sat on near the club lounge and saw a cleaner, she hadn’t seen my passport but had washed the floor! I went back to the room where Jamie was puzzled as I told him I dreamt my passport was left on a chair and I called reception. They had it! I got showered, dressed and packed before I went to get the passport and was so relieved, especially as we would still be on time. It was a short walk to Terminal 2 check-in desk but Jamie had thought we were flying from Terminal 1. We checked in, showed our vaccine papers and Turkish PLF then waited for Nanny Kay, Sioned and her children to turn up. Nanny Kay had overslept and didn’t arrive until later than arranged and she was in a bit of a flap, she had to borrow my hair brush and she looked very hot in her fur coat. There was still no sign of Sioned and she, like me, only had a Turkish phone so we couldn’t contact her. At 6.45am, 45 minutes after checking in, Nanny Kay and I decided to go through security while Jamie waited for Sioned so he could help her with luggage, checking in and the 2 small children. It turned out Sioned had also thought she was flying from Terminal 1 and so was quite late, Nanny Kay and I had eaten a toastie and drunk a tea by the time they all came through security. The flight from Manchester to Antalya was eventful; there was terrible turbulence soon after take-off and we all felt it, the staff were chirpy as anything and Jamie went for the white wine straight away. As Sioned had us there to help, she ordered Prosecco but I didn’t feel too well and by the time we were landing I was in the toilet with a dodgy tum and vomitting – just what I needed on a 3-4 hour car journey at the other end! After we landed, Sioned and I took the kids through the Turkish Citizens queue which was much quicker than Jamie and Kay’s foreigners queue and it took quite a while to get all the many suitcases. Jamie was worried he would get stopped because of having Graeme’s ashes in his luggage but luckily, they were only stopping every third person for extra checks at Antalya airport and we were through! The journey back in a mini-van was very tiring but the kids were super well behaved and we made it back to Dalyan in about 4 hours! I’d booked an official PCR test in at Tez bar for 10pm but by the time we got there it was closed and so I dragged my cases to Lukka as it started to rain, to see if Jamie, Mehmet or Appo could help me with the large suitcase. While I waited for my PCR test result I had specifically decided not to arrange to meet my friends who had arrived in Dalyan today. Because they were unable to contact me they were sat in Lukka bar, already fairly merry, waiting to catch me as I returned home. I kept my mask on and told them my situation and that my Mom had tested positive for Corona but they didn’t care and all hugged me! Hamish, the Londoner bought us all a shot of Jägermeister, Mik tried to swerve his and was the most drunk. I had a beer and they finished their drinks and went back to their villa (next door to Jamie’s), with arrangements for me to message them after my PCR test tomorrow at 10am (Tez had rescheduled). Jamie had arranged to meet Ann, Jax and Lee in Lukka so they came in and we had the same situation. Appo, Yasemin and Mehmet were all really happy to see me and Jamie and there were more hugs – I really hoped my test would be negative and that I wasn’t going to give everyone Corona for the New Year, or stop them from being able to travel home at the end of their holidays! Safely back home I decided I was hungry and warmed up a couple of sausage rolls (which turned out to be cheese rolls) which I’d got from Emma and were in the freezer. It was nice to be back ‘home’!
Tuesday 28th December didn’t quite go according to plan; Mom was still waiting on her results from yesterday’s PCR test but Dad and I decided to do a lateral flow test. As we waited Ma started cooking us all a breakfast and I started to worry if I was positive I wouldn’t be able to go back to Turkey. I was meant to be leaving in a few hours and, although Turkey had no requirement for me to have a PCR test to enter the country, I couldn’t really risk being put in quarantine on arrival if I still went. To pass some time I scrolled through Facebook and saw that in Vietnam now the authorities were carrying out door to door checks to find people who had yet to be vaccinated and giving out jabs – imagine that in the western world with anti-vaxers! The 15 minute timers went off; Dad and I were both negative and we were so pleased. I decided to leave in the next hour, I checked the bus, tram and train times and found that, due to Corona, there were some train cancellations and Dad was insistent I needed to leave ASAP. At the time Mom and I thought he was being a bit pushy at me going but it would turn out that Dad was absolutely right, if I’d not left when I did I wouldn’t have got there! I said my goodbyes to Dad and Mom drove me to the tram stop with a big, heavy case and a smaller hand luggage case. I almost went back home as I started to have a bit of a dodgy tum coming on, but I took an imodium, said goodbye and got on the tram to the train station. As I paid the unmasked conductor who was wearing a lanyard with sunflowers on (which means she has a hidden disability) I wondered if I was doing the right thing by leaving and I had tears in my eyes that rolled down my cheeks as we left Halfway. When I got off the tram at Sheffield train station I was desperate for the toilet, couldn’t carry both cases at once and the lift to go to the platform level was on a go slow. After a cumbersome pulling and pushing of luggage in a public toilet I had to retrace my steps to go back to the footbridge level and over to the ticket office. A number of trains were delayed or cancelled, the station was busy with post Christmas travellers but about 60% had masks on now – a massive change since my experience 17 days ago. I was reluctant to use the machines in case I booked a train which wasn’t going and when I spoke to the very helpful woman at the ticket desk it was a good job I chose that. I had 10 minutes to get the ticket and get to the platform as the train for Manchester Piccadilly was on it’s way, she mentioned to check when I arrived but the trains from Manchester to the airport were getting cancelled. It cost me just under £30 because I’d not been able to book in advance and off I went. The train (delayed by a welcome 5 minutes) was busy but not packed and, as I got on I heard that the Sheffield to London train which had a lot of people waiting for it, was cancelled – I was lucky I wasn’t going back to Heathrow! On the train there was free WiFi so I checked the connecting airport train times and found that I had 3 minutes to change trains if this one got in on time. As everyone got off the train on the furthest platform from where I needed to be, I had to push my way in the opposite direction against all the other passengers in search of the lift. I got up to the footbridge and hurried along to the lift to take me down to Platform 13 where the train was already in and about to go. The lift was out of order and I was going to have to carry both cases down the stairs if I was to be able to get a train in the next 2 hours! I grabbed the handles of one case as a young man came running to get the same train and it all happened rather quickly; he picked up my big suitcase with me and we ran down the stairs together, shouting to the guard to hold the train doors! We made it and I was so thankful as the train was empty, it was the last one to the airport for a while and I would probably have missed it, or hurt myself! I was so grateful that the guy was helpful and could see I was struggling and I almost cried! I logged on to the free internet and let my Mom know I had made it, unfortunately during my journey Mom’s confirmation that she had tested positive for Corona and that her operation was cancelled had come through, she had completed the track and trace details for the family and let them know. We were all so disappointed for her but I just hoped she wouldn’t be ill with it, Gayle and the family were all fine! I was about to get off the train so I quickly responded to the friend I would be meeting when I arrived at Manchester airport to let him know that I would be at the Radisson Blu hotel soon and would come straight to his room. I’d arrived at Manchester airport train station at just after 3.30pm and there were very few people on the train or in the area. I seemed to be more proficient with the luggage as I walked towards Terminal 2 and to the hotel. My friend, Jamie, had booked us in to the Radisson Blu hotel for a night and he was waiting in room 922 so I went straight up, still in my mask and winter coat. We had a lovely room with a king size bed and already he had his trolley with 3 suitcases on, plus hand luggage – his story was that he was not giving up his trolley which he had put a pound in as he would need it tomorrow and he had a Christmas tree and half his husband’s ashes in the luggage so it had to stay in the room! I was about to get my 2 remaining cherry bakewells out when Jamie said to get ready as we were off to the club lounge. For an extra £18 we were able to book in until 9pm for free drinks and nibbles and I didn’t need telling twice! We went masked up but there were no staff, just help yourself so I had a beer, Jamie had a white wine and soda and we sat in a quiet corner. I told him about the family’s Corona situation and that I’d tested negative. He had been vaccinated and had already had the virus in November so he wasn’t unduly worried but I decided I would tell the other 2 friends we were travelling with in case they were worried. The nibbles were not too plentiful and so at 6.30pm we gave up our free bar, which we had easily got our money’s worth from, to go to meet Nanny Kay for dinner. On the way to meet her in the reception of the Clayton hotel Jamie managed to get us lost and we had to do an assault course style journey to get there, he also managed to drop 3 bank cards in the wet mud on the way but we luckily noticed! The restaurant was empty but they wouldn’t let us go in because we hadn’t booked so we booked for in 15 minutes time and found a quiet corner in the bar to sit at. While Jamie went to get a bottle of wine for us to share I was about to let Nanny Kay know I was worried I may be carrying Corona and that my Mom was positive when she started to tell me how she had been ill recently with a virus. So that was a bonus and we went in to dinner with our wine and had some lovely food. I had the soup and a beef dish which was massive and very tasty but I had to take half back to the room. We left at a reasonable time and arranged to meet at the terminal at 6am tomorrow so we could check in, another friend and her 2 kids would also be joining us. When we got back to our hotel Jamie and I had another drink in the hotel bar and then I realised I still needed to complete the Turkish PLF and check-in online so we decided we had better go back to the room to do that. Jamie had more wine and I had trouble with the checking-in online so went to go to reception for them to print it for me. On the way I got an error message and sat down on a chair to resubmit my passport details before continuing to get my print out. Back in the room I put my printouts on top of my hand luggage and we both set alarms as well as having a wake up call as we didn’t want to overlay or for anything to go wrong!
It was no surprise that I felt rough when I woke up on Sunday 26th December, Boxing Day. I’d had wine, gin and Tia Maria last night and had also eaten so much stuff that might make me have a bad reaction. It was after midnight when we all went to bed but Morgan had to sleep on the sofa as April was already in bed and was feeling unwell, saying she was hot but to touch she was cold. Neil had not yet hung up his pinny and was back in the kitchen making us all a full English breakfast. I felt like I had a bit of a cold now so I was grateful for a cooked breakfast, plenty of orange juice and a paracetamol. The food was fantastic; bacon, 2 different types of sausages, hash brown, beans, mushrooms, toast (and for the others there were tomatoes and fried eggs! I’d barely had time to clean my teeth, get dressed and finish my cup of tea before my Dad was ready to get off home, he and Mom had already packed up the car and had their coats on. I had a bit of a dodgy tum (hardly surprising) as I tend to do after eating sausages and I also felt like I needed some fresh air as I’d not been outside since the 23rd. I decided I would walk home and, after saying goodbyes and thank yous, I set off down the hill. It was a nice walk as I strolled past where we used to live and along the very quiet streets, past the church and home. I needed a lemsip and I was worried I might have Corona because of the sore throat and having a bunged up nose but I didn’t take a lateral flow test as I’d eaten and drank so decided to wait – none of us were going anywhere or seeing anyone today. We still had some gifts to unwrap under the tree at my parents so we did those and I had got mom some big warm socks for after her operation, thinking she might not be able to get her slippers on, I got Dad some chocolates and between them some more Turkish delight and some nice chocolate biscuits to have with their cups of tea. Ma & Pa had given me some money, undies and another 2 chocolate oranges – I was very grateful and happy. I had a hot bath, using some of my new products and then went to bed with a hot lemsip to sweat it out and by 6pm I felt a lot better. My parents had already eaten their tea but had saved me some beans as we were all so over-indulged that we just fancied beans on toast! I still wasn’t sure if I had Corona so tomorrow I would do a lateral flow test, my Mom also was booked in to have her pre-op PCR test and would need to isolate. After a couple of whiskey and green gingers with hot water I went to bed early, I also Googled where the nearest place was if I wanted to book in for a PCR test, unfortunately the nearest one was booked up and had no walk-ins so it would be 7.5 miles away by car.
When I woke up on Christmas Day (Saturday 25th December) I could hear my sister talking to the dog, Sumo, who was opening one of his presents from underneath the tree. I also felt a little bit out of sorts and my voice had gone. Neil made me some buttered cranberry toast for breakfast as the others were having scrambled eggs and salmon, which I don’t like. There was also lots of bucks fizz which seemed to sort me out a bit and my voice came back! We opened presents and I was gobsmacked at how much everyone had, especially the kids. When I’d been asked what I wanted for Christmas this year I’d said a Terry’s chocolate orange because I love them and had not had one for years. I was not expecting to get any presents, Captain Caveman and I don’t bother with them any more so it was a bit of a shock to be given a gift bag with gifts inside. The Leesing family had surpassed themselves and I was so surprised to get all sorts of lovely items; a bracelet, toiletries, chocolates and a voucher for Marks & Spencer’s. I’d not really known what to buy for them and, of course, I was on a much tighter budget. For Neil I picked Merino wool socks as Captain Caveman swears by these and I thought they would be good for work or fishing, I decided on an underwear set for Gayle hoping I had picked the right size and colour, for Morgan and April I picked Lush bath bombs thinking they would be able to have a nice relaxing soak in the bath with those and they always smell nice, for the whole family I took a bit of a risk and decided to buy them my favourite game, not knowing if they already had it or if it was a bit inappropriate. Cards Against Humanity is just hilarious and reminds me of playing it at Momma D’s house with Des, D-Dub and Hanh so I knew it was funny. Everyone got so many lovely gifts and I found out what a boo pillow is when Gayle got a massive one given as a gift. Sumo got lots of presents too including a camera which he hadn’t realised squeaked. There was even a tiny bit of snow falling but it didn’t settle at all so there was no outside snow activities. Our Christmas dinner would be served around 5pm so I was given the job of peeling and crossing the sprouts while Neil and Gayle were busy in the kitchen, preparing the Christmas Day feast. I sat at the dining room table to do them and got a call from Captain Caveman who had already had his quiet Christmas Day and was over at Stu’s house, slightly inebriated after they had sent Multi out to get more beers. I was very pleased to join the kids with a melon and berry starter, while the adults had a choice between pâté or seafood, it meant I had more room for the main turkey dinner. Neil made sure we all had our wine glasses full and then he and Gayle, helped by Morgan and April, brought out the main course in a selection of bowls for us to help ourselves. It was outstanding; on my plate I had turkey, stuffing, pig in blanket, roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts with bacon, chestnuts, and cauliflower cheese – I swerved the broccoli, parsnips and roasted fennel. Gayle had a mountain of a plateful and we all laughed as there was no way we would eat it all, even though it was delicious. We had to have quite an intermission before the Christmas pudding and proper custard. We played more games in the evening and my Dad did not like Cards Against Humanity one bit and said it was stupid, my youngest niece seemed to be the best player and I thought it was a great laugh. When the Trivial Pursuits game came out Dad was more settled and we managed to consume yet more alcohol, all of us managing thus far to enjoy a truly remarkable day, with no falling out (well, apart from Gayle putting in a complaint to Neil about the quality of the cream content in his liqueur coffees). For supper I had more booze and a good sized portion of the ‘smash’ cake which was probably the best sponge cake I’d ever had!
I woke up on Friday 24th December, Christmas Eve, with a bit of a sore throat and paranoia that the dreaded Corona might have got me, even though I didn’t feel unwell or have any other symptoms! Given last night’s shenanigans in the Williams’ household, it was surprising I didn’t feel a tad worse but it was almost midday! It was also the weekly weigh-in day so I stepped on the scales and found that I had put on 2kg in the last week! I decided to do another lateral flow test, just to check before we got ready for our festivities, even though we would still be with the same people as last night but I wanted to be sure I wasn’t about to give anyone Corona for Christmas. The test was negative so that was a relief and I took a paracetamol and manned the F up! I had tea and toast for breakfast and witnessed a rare site of my Dad doing the hoovering. Ma & Pa were excited for Christmas and had started to gather everything together as we were all invited to my sister’s house. I think Dad would have set off at midday if it meant we could start the party earlier and I’m sure Mom was slightly concerned that either me or my sister would ruin Christmas with a family fall out. It seemed different this year, the pandemic had certainly impacted everyone in different ways and I’m sure we all just wanted it to be a fantastic time for us to all be together and celebrate. I was definitely looking forward to it and I had even bought a terribly ill-fitting Christmas jumper for the occasion! I spoke to Captain Caveman who had spent Christmas Eve day (he was 7 hours ahead) with Leonard and a bottle of wine at Funny Monkeys and it was nice to chat before the mayhem commenced. For lunch we had to eat the remnants of last night’s buffet between the three of us and I do love an overload of carbs before a family celebration. I remembered my brother-in-law is very generous with his drink pours, my sister had more bottles of booze than the drink cupboard could handle and I’d heard there might be more games being played. I was up for whatever the Leesing family had planned for us and was grateful to be invited to spend the next few days with everyone. At the back of our minds there was the fear that, come boxing day, the Prime Minster, BoJo (no relation), would announce a lockdown and we’d all be fed up. My sister, her husband and kids had gone bowling in the afternoon but we had decided not to join them for a few reasons but mainly because I’m not keen on bowling, we all had injuries, it would be full of families and we were trying to minimise Mom’s risk of catching Corona before her hip operation. We arrived at Gayle & Neil’s house around 6pm, it was cold and raining. Dad and I unloaded the very full car while Mom put stuff where it needed to be indoors. The house looked wonderfully Christmassy, I lost count of how many Christmas trees there were inside, and everyone was excited for the family festivities. Under the main tree in the living room there were already a few presents and I was conscious that the gifts I had bought would look superfluous. It had been 10 years since I had spent Christmas with my family in the UK (& 7 years since I’d even been in England during the festive period) so you can probably imagine how much I thought things had changed – there was certainly already evidence of an overabundance of consumerism in this home and I was a bit overwhelmed at how lucky we all were to be in this situation. Sumo, the dog, was keen to get the party started and had spotted a joint of ham that he was sure he could reach if he really tried, so I put the chair between him and the rather tempting ham! Neil was ready with the champagne and I felt like royalty as I was given one of the big flutes (again) to drink mine from as we all did a cheers to being together, during a pandemic, at Christmas. The buffet spread was magnificent and I almost felt guilty eating it as it was just so indulgent, even my Dad said it put my Mom’s buffet to shame and she agreed. There was a big cheeseboard, smoked salmon, prawns, pastries (including mini beef Wellingtons which were gorgeous), cured meats, as well as the ham, olives, chutneys, sauces, nuts and crisps. A new culinary invention had reached the buffet table this year and I couldn’t wait to see if it would be as popular as when garlic met bread to form the now run-of-the-mill garlic bread; chicken doughnuts – well, I never! We drank more and I had no room for sweet stuff, except for a couple of nuts dipped in caramel chocolate which are a real winner, although I kept eyeing up the fancy ‘smash’ cake on the end of the table. After a couple of bottles of fizz (between us!) I went on to red wine to compliment my return trips to the cheese board and then the games started. The one where you have to model a word out of plasticine was quite tricky but Mom and I were on each other’s wave length with that one, there was a true and false game which was amusing but my face hurt so much from laughing at the next two games. The most hilarious one was Dik Dik, where we had to ask our opponents (fellow family members) if they had a specific creature on their card but the names of the imaginary creatures were so inappropriately worded that we were in hysterics most of the time – surely it’s not right for a granddad to be asking his granddaughter if she has a Giant Beaver!? My Mom had a favourite game which definitely defied the sensibilities of the Corona virus transmission by playing ‘name that tune’ on a kazoo – unbelievably addictive, competitive and just priceless! By the time we had passed in to Christmas Day I was on the whiskey, Dad had broken a glass and was shit-faced, Neil was hoovering up glass and Sumo was banished to the garden so he didn’t get glass in his paws – it was mayhem! Mom pumped up the blow up bed for me, I helped Morgan get the almost dry bedding back on for Ma & Pa to have her bed, then coerced April to tidy her room enough to fit Morgan in with her. After helping my sister bring down even more presents from Santa to put under the tree it was finally bed time, after just one last nightcap for everyone!
Thursday 23rd December, or Christmas Eve Eve as I refer to it, was definitely not as it was planned to be! In the news Spain had announced that masks must be worn outside now to try to stop the Omicron variant spread and in China there was a rule put in place that only 1 person per household was able to leave the house every 2nd day for essentials in the city of Xi’an, where over 13 million people were under strict lockdown still. In England there were no changes to rules and what rules there were, were often not enforced or upheld anyway. When I was in Vietnam we would hear more news about what was happening in China but there was rarely a reference to it on the English news. As I ate my toasted teacake for breakfast, my mom was busy getting things ready for her first Christmas party. My parents were officially opening the Christmas bar tonight and had invited my sister, her husband and their 2 kids over for a small party. Unfortunately, we decided our family trip to Chatsworth would be cancelled and we would look forward to going in warmer weather during the summer instead. I’d discussed Louisa’s situation with my parents and let them know that, to be on the safe side, I’d sadly cancelled plans to meet later, I asked if I’d be allowed to gatecrash their party instead and they said I could. Sheree and John picked me up from my parents after taking a risky detour which got them stuck up a narrow lane in a car, we made sure we wore our masks in the car and we tried as best as we could to be careful, as is the norm these days. Sheree is always a hostess with the mostest and put on a lovely lunch of meatballs, rice, frittata, cheese, pickled onions and gerkins. It was wonderful and I washed it down with a glass of wine as we talked about most topics under the sun. Poor John’s ears must have been almost bleeding as when I said it was time for me to get going he seemed rather keen to get the car started. It was a shame we had made the decision for me not to stay over, given the Corona situation, but we would definitely do that once I was back again – I used to love those times when John would go to bed leaving me and Sheree almost crying with laughter and drinking so much wine! When I got home I had left my phone charging and had realised that was another set of photos I’d not taken – it was becoming a habit. My mom was fussing over what food to do, if there was enough room in the oven and what my sister could or couldn’t eat (she’s coeliac) so I offered to help. Dad was in charge of the bar and putting plates in the dining room and so we all mucked in with the putting stuff out for the buffet. When the family arrived it turned in to an episode not dissimilar to The Royle Family TV show because their dog, Sumo, had a shitty bum and my brother-in-law was wiping it with a bit of kitchen roll in the kitchen (the dog didn’t like it one bit) while me and my dad told him to go in the garden. Even more hilarity ensued when the games started with Christmas themed charades and my nieces were the best at it, we had a very difficult Christmas quiz but the girls won the boys. We played the ‘Who am I?’ game and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much; no-one knew Justin Bieber was Canadian, my youngest niece took a while to work out she was the Queen, I’d never heard of Kylie Jenner, Sumo the dog got upset that he wasn’t included and my Dad had the hardest time figuring out he was a passion fruit martini! I ate so much from Ma’s delicious spread and drank loads of red wine, sherry and a couple of Bailey’s – we had another one of those nights that went on way past midnight!
I slept in until 10am on Monday 20th December and it felt good to have a lay in so late! After we put some washing in I walked with mom as far as the chemist, as she was picking up prescriptions, and I went to get the bus to town. I’d been in England for 9 days now and unfortunately I’d not been able to meet quite a few people who were still getting over the dreaded virus but today, after rescheduling, lots of lateral flow tests and concerns about logistics I would be meeting up with more friends. Poor Vanessa and Matt had been stuck at home longer than they wanted to be, due to a delay with their day 2 PCR test results but were finally free to be let out, Maddie was in Lincolnshire and was no longer coming to Sheffield due to other commitments, and of course my parents were trying to minimise risk by not going out, plus they had a food shop delivery due that afternoon. I got off the bus and walked to the wrong venue because I’d mixed up where I was planning on going tomorrow night but luckily I was early and had enough time to walk down towards where Debenhams used to be. It was heartbreaking to see so many of the high street shops now closed and, to say it was almost Christmas, it wasn’t nearly as busy in town as usual. I walked past the Christmas markets where quite a few shoppers were and arrived at The Furnace, a new addition since I’d last been back. I was impressed with Becca’s choice of venue as, not only did it look fancy, it was spacious, airy and almost empty. Becca, Caz and Nel were already there but there were to be no hugs which was sad, of course, even the menus were already laid out on the table. All 3 of the girls had suffered with Corona this year and so it was good to see they looked fab, especially Caz’s hair after a trip to the hairdresser’s this morning. We ordered drinks, and it was different to our past meet ups where we would have shared a bottle of wine. We all ordered food and drinks; I had a pint of lager, another pork belly dish and some poutine, Becca and Caz had fishcakes, while Nel had a Korean chicken burger and chips. All the food was fantastic, with the starters/sides being easily enough for a lunch and I’d definitely go there again – it was the cleanest place I’d been so far too (the toilets were immaculate)! Our next stop was made in an attempt to be sensible by being outside as we headed to the Christmas bar in the peace gardens. Vanessa had already let me know that it was just her coming in to town but she also had a shopping delivery on it’s way so we said we would go to the Alpine bar and wait for her. Of course, I had no WiFi on my phone so once we had all drank a rather expensive (£4.50) mulled wine in a small polystyrene cup, Becca messaged to check where Vanessa was. There was also another pop up bar at the top of Fargate called the Sleigh bar and she was there so we set off to meet her and bumped in to her on the way. We all had one more drink (£2.50 for half of dark fruits cider) at the Sleigh bar then it was time to say bye. Again, it felt funny to not be hugging, or even touching, each other and also not really knowing when we could all ‘get back to normal’. Vanessa and I had a wander back down Fargate to Marks & Spencer’s and we bought a few treats and some Christmas presents before sacking it off to call for a quick half in the Brown Bear. As I walked in to the half empty pub I had a wave of nostalgia as it was one of those boozers I loved to visit in the winter, with its cosy interior and no nonsense bar staff – there’s not even any WiFi. Vanessa bought us half a cider each and we just had time before I had to tog back up in winter layers to go to the bus station to get the bus home. I only just made it on time and, as arranged, I was home by 6pm. Mom had been busy making another one of my favourite English meals, toad in the hole (sausages in Yorkshire pudding, for the unfamiliar) and Dad was supervising the process. It was bloody lovely but my dad had a face on when it wasn’t up to his expectations and he thought Ma should have left it in the oven longer as it got a bit stuck in the middle. Mom was more worried that the ends would burn and I wasn’t complaining because I think I got the most sausages – I thought it was spot on. Dad seemed happier once we got a red wine on the go and we started watching something a bit odd on BBC1 called The One Before. After dinner I got a message from my friend I was meeting tomorrow night saying she had to cancel our plans which we had arranged some time ago as she had double booked herself. I had done similar in recent weeks so I was fine about it, I think once it gets in to December it is hard to keep track of everything that’s meant to be going on – I knew it was nothing personal and it was just one of those things. It was a shame I wouldn’t get to see Leanne this time but I hoped I would be able to see her in the summer instead and maybe even help her out with a new project she had taken on recently. I went to bed and, conscious I was falling behind on my Duolingo Turkish practice, tried to do some but ended up watching Lubricant (Russell Howard) in bed – it made me laugh!
I was excited on Tuesday 21st December to be seeing my aunties, Jill & Rita. They were going to be at my sister’s house around lunch time so, as I got up late, I had an M&S sausage roll for breakfast and read the Vietnamese news. In Vietnam cases were higher again (just over 16,000 in a day), and more deaths (250) in a day than in the UK, more info here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20211221/vietnam-records-16325-coronavirus-infections-50191-recoveries-250-fatalities/64844.html My parents and I walked up the hill in Mosborough to my sister’s house where Jill and Rita had already arrived and the dog, Sumo, was going crackers over Rita while she tried to get her shoes off. There was an offer of a hot beverage or a glass of fizz and it was easy to see how the family split went; Jill was driving and so plumped for a cup of tea with ma & pa while Rita and I decided prosecco was on the cards – we aren’t one to turn down alcohol often. Gayle doesn’t have a normal kettle, more like a fancy teasmade-come-coffee machine type of appliance and so, while she fannied about with that, I poured the prosecco, not realising the champagne flutes were far bigger than usual. Rita and I had almost a half bottle of prosecco in each glass and it was rather moreish. I had planned on getting a photo of us all but between stories of excrement and Harold Shipman plus a quick quiz on what that name of the doctor my nannan hated was, I got distracted. I genuinely feel that the TV show Gogglebox has nothing on my family and I think cameras in my sister’s house would make for entertainment gold! There were chocolate cupcakes and luxury biscuits to eat and poor old Sumo wanted them all, he picked his moment to wolf down an unattended cupcake wrapper and wouldn’t let me or Gayle get it out of his mouth. When Neil and my nieces returned I found out something that all my English friends had been keeping a secret from me, something that I had said would be a great idea about 20 years ago and is now a thing – you can order a Macdonald’s! April, my youngest niece, wanted to order one and I was amazed that this now existed, even though she was told ‘no’! Neil got some white wine out and we carried on drinking, ma & pa had one and Rita had a whisky. It was good to have everyone together when we finally remembered Dr Paget’s name (crikey, we wouldn’t have slept tonight)! The walk back home was down hill and easier because I was merry and Dad zoomed ahead so he could put the fire and heating on for us as it was getting dark. My Mom really was pulling out all the aces as she had a beef stew in the slow cooker which was for dinner tonight and she only made her best Yorkshire puddings yet – Dad was happy! I had some stew left over for tomorrow and, instead of a night out in Sheffield as planned, I got to watch the 2nd episode of The One Before in the living room with Ma & Pa – I was a bit late to realise that there were 2 female characters, Emma and Jane, who I thought were the same actress (they weren’t) and wondered why it now was starting to make more sense. I didn’t have any wine with Dad tonight but I did finish off Clare’s blue cheese with Red Leicester mini cheddars for supper and really enjoyed them. We had some more family plans for tomorrow so I was in bed before midnight.
It had been arranged before I left Turkey that my parents and I would go to uncle Gary & aunty Jo’s for lunch on Wednesday 22nd December. They had moved house since I last visited but didn’t live too far from my friend, Sheree. I’d therefore also organised for a sleep over at Sheree’s after visiting my relatives. Unfortunately, due to the Corona virus those plans had to change, my cousin, Liz and her family, were coming back from Scotland and we needed to make sure Gary & Jo didn’t have to cancel due to catching Corona. In an effort for us all to still be able to see each other my Mom and Jo arranged that we would instead go for a walk around the lake(s) at Rother Valley at 11am. I explained this to Sheree and we decided we would come up with a Plan B once I got back from our country walk. To be quite honest I wasn’t looking forward to the cold or the walk, given that my ankle still hurts, my mom has a bad leg, my Dad has bad knees and my uncle Gary had not long since had knee surgery, and it didn’t involve a homemade lasagne or an alcoholic drink – we were more likely to be out of action from exisitng injuries than Corona! On my bottom half I put on my thermal tights underneath my Christmas leggings but only one pair of socks and my new boots, my top half consisted of a t-shirt, a hoody, a scarf, my big coat, a hat, gloves and a face mask – I forgot to put my ankle support bandage on but couldn’t be bothered to address that issue. It was great to see Gary and Jo and instead of cooking me a lovely lunch they had brought me a bottle of red wine, and from one of my favourite regions in Italy – I love a Primitivo from Puglia so I was very happy! We had a good walk around and didn’t go too fast, first I was chatting with Gary and Dad and we were having trouble keeping up with Jo and Mom who were speeding ahead with Henry, the dog. Once we had walked around one of the lakes I thought we might be cutting through but there was no chance of that, it was a 5km total loop around the main and northern lakes so not too far for able-legged people. By this time I was warm and had taken off my mask as there was only me who had kept it on, even though the UK rules don’t say you have to wear one if you’re outdoors. My feet were the only part of me that were cold but they soon warmed up when we swapped walking formations and I went to the front with Jo and Henry. It was great to see Gary & Jo while I was back and such a shame that we couldn’t go to the pub with them but the walk and chat was rather nice. This was the first time since tearing my ankle and knee ligaments that I have managed to walk 5km without limping or a sit down and I think having a slight heel on my new boots helped. When we got back home I made new plans with Sheree for tomorrow lunch and cancelled the plans I had for tomorrow daytime with my sister and my parents. This gave us a free evening at my parents tonight and of course we made the most of it. We only had fish and chips again and it was sad knowing this would be the last time until July next year! This time the chippy tea was even better than before as the owner had just cooked fresh fish and we had plenty of chips. Dad put the kettle on and we all had a cup of tea while we watched the last episode of The One Before – which was all a bit confusing. While we watched Live at the Apollo with Jason Manford, Dad fixed us all an alcoholic beverage, mom and I managed 2 sherries, each with 3 cherries, and thoroughly enjoyed our Harvey’s Bristol cream, seeing as it was almost Christmas. There were a couple of disappointments before bed though; today was the 10th anniversary of me meeting Captain Caveman but, because of the 7 hour time difference, I didn’t even get a chance to speak to him. My friend, Louisa, who I was looking forward to seeing tomorrow night, had sent a message to say that she had been in contact with a relative who had tested positive for Corona yesterday, she herself was negative on 3 lateral flow tests, and had already had Corona a while ago, so it was up to me if I still wanted to meet up. It was awful news, as we all knew we could catch the virus anywhere and at any time, but no one wanted to catch it for Christmas or jeopardise my mom’s operation.
joloyolo 