Dalyan – 30th October

Captain Caveman had decided to go for a reccy for his Sunday Walks on Wednesday 30th October. I’d like to have thought that he had taken the hint that he was cheesing me off by lolling about playing Bridge in a horizontal fashion, but I doubt it! After my cup of tea in bed, I took my measurements and got on the home scales. My bust had stayed the same, my waist was now -1cm beneath my target but my hips had put on 2cm. The home scales showed that I had lost 1.2kg (2.6lb) since last week which was really good news but I know, recently, Carol’s scales at Fat Club had not been as kind.
I made myself a vegetarian pho for breakfast then did my Turkish homework before I had to go to the lesson at 11.30am. This week we were having the lesson at Ela’s Kitchen but we didn’t know until last minute that Lukka had closed. The smell of the breakfasts was amazing and I wanted to get a nice cup of Yorkshire tea but I hadn’t taken enough money with me – I’d know for the next time! Instead I had a soda water. I like it at Ela’s for having a Turkish lesson as it is easier to hear Sioned, our teacher, as it’s a quiet spot.

I did a quick bit of work and ate a banana before it was time to go to Fat Club at lunch. As expected, Carol’s scales were not as kind. I had lost only 0.8kg (1.7lb) but it was still a loss and I was pleased. Captain Caveman had not yet joined the Fat Club but he was certainly following the plan for meals. He’d only lost 100g this week but 2kg over the last 3 weeks. It was a little disconcerting that he had lost 0.5kg more than me in 3 weeks without trying. I didn’t stay long at the group today as I had a video call booked in with the Resort Experts Sales Manager at 4pm, but I did quickly call in to the supermarket as we needed some cheese. Here’s what I ended up buying as a bit of a treat, prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
1 Bounty chocolate bar 34.90
Cheddar cheese 139.95
2 x 400g 7% fat beef mince 479.90
Total spent 654.75 lira (£14.75)

I’d gone a bit mad buying mince but it’s not too often that they have the lower fat one and I had suggested my parents come round for dinner one night, when they were available. Today they had gone to Ortaca and they were going to Babadağ either tomorrow or Friday, so maybe at the weekend. They were going to let me know when they had a free evening as their social calendar was pretty full.
My video call went well and the Sales Manager is loads of fun plus he knows what he is doing. He lives in Benidorm and has been there for over 30 years, which was good to know for any of my friends and potential customers who fancied a bit of Costa Blanca.
The team meeting was at 8pm that night, too, so I was very busy today. Captain Caveman came home, asked how I had done at Fat Club and told me he was taking me out for a glass of wine (with cheese) at Retro bar. It’s only round the corner from us and was closing for the winter this weekend. I grabbed a fleece, as the evenings were getting cooler, and off we popped. Retro Bar was really lovely and the wine and cheese went down well at only 100 lira (£2.25) each. We rushed back for the team meeting only for me to have got the time wrong as the UK and Spain had put their clocks back at the weekend, while Turkey keeps them the same all year. We could have had another drink at Retro, but at least I was home and we were only having leftover curry and saag aloo for dinner with steamed rice.

Dalyan – 29th October

I was working from my bed with a cup of tea before 8am on Tuesday 29th October, while Captain Caveman made himself breakfast and got ready for his morning of Bridge Club. I read that Vietnam Airlines had launched a non-stop flight between Hanoi, Vietnam, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and would run on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. This was good news and I added it to my list of itinerary options for future trips. I also put a post on my Resort Experts Facebook page of me on a swing in the sea while in Koh Rong Samloem, Cambodia. For breakfast I had cheese and olives with a green tea (no bread today as it was weigh day again tomorrow).
Despite all the rubbish going on and having a partner who’s main focus was being the world’s best Bridge player, I had decided to keep focused and remain positive. There was nothing I could do to change anyone else and it would take too much energy and time that I didn’t have spare. I decided I was just going to focus on myself and let everyone else around me get on with whatever they were doing. If not, I was going to drive myself mad.
Around midday, I decided to pop to the pharmacy and shops for a bit of fresh air and a few essentials. Here’s what I bought with the prices in lira;

Pharmacy
1 box of Cerazette pills 329.18 lira (£7.38)

I thought the price for one month’s contraceptive pills was higher than it should be!

Migros Supermarket
Dido Chocolate bar 16.50
Diet Coke 30.00
Fanta orange 30.00
Tonic 45.00
Spinach 46.95
1kg chicken breast 170.50
Total spent 338.86 lira (£7.60)

I love those Dido chocolate bars and didn’t even get one on sale this time!
When Captain Caveman got back from Bridge he made a pasta dish for lunch which was probably only about 3 syns, as it had sucuk in. I worked in the afternoon and then made dinner. I did a Slimming World Roast Potato Saag Aloo, which was very nice and went well with the chicken curry and steamed rice. I ended the week on 194 syns, which was 72 less than last week’s and half of it was for alcohol, so I was hopeful for a loss tomorrow.

Dalyan – 28th October

On Monday 28th October I was up early and the sun was shining. While Captain Caveman went Dogging, I had work and errands to do. My first task was to go to the bank and make sure I had put in my 26,000 lira (or more) to keep up my residency requirements. I also needed to draw out some cash as it was time to pay for my Captainnet (internet) again, but still without my new residency card. My parents were off on the yellow boat again with other Dalyan Dwellers for the weekly Köyceğiz trip. They often go to Tuana, a bar/restaurant on the water front, for drinks and lunch. At Captainnet I usually deal with the lady who works there but this time there was a new man and he refused to let me extend the internet without a valid residency card, at first. I showed him my official piece of paper that said I had renewed and he made 2 phone calls. Today was Republic Day (Cumhuriyet Bayram) in Turkey, so I told him I would need to have the internet because of the special day – perhaps the Turks would not be able to acknowledge today without the internet so I hoped that would work. He took another 10 minutes of over-mauling my paper with his grubby hands and then agreed, saying I needed to come back as soon as I received the card. Of course, I agreed, paid him the 400 lira (£8.99) for the month, then went to Migros for some essentials – here’s what I bought, with prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Green tea 23.00
Chickpeas 33.95
15 eggs 72.50
1.4kg sweet potatoes 94.91
Total spent 224.26 lira (£5.04)

Back home, I made banana, oat and egg pancake for breakfast but the banana was too unripe still and I could only eat half of it before the rest had to go in the bin.
At noon I had a meeting with my boss which went well and I was now part of the Resort Experts team.

When Captain Caveman got home from Dogging we had leek & potato soup for lunch followed by some peanuts in the afternoon. I had a couple of friends respond to my Resort Experts post to ask for quotes so I spent the afternoon on Crete, Portugal and the Canaries for 2025 holidays. Captain Caveman warmed up left over Chicken Provençal and made sweet potato and normal potato wedges in the air fryer to go with it, for dinner.
In the evening, we watched something on Youtube as we couldn’t get the Netflix to work on the TV and it was too late to get a code from the guy who is in charge of it. I can’t recall what we watched but I know that Captain Caveman was fast asleep and snoring well before the end.

Dalyan – 27th October

The alarm went off early and Captain Caveman went to make me a cup of tea on the morning of Sunday 27th October. The Sunday Walk was planned and the weather looked good. This time, Captain Caveman had made the walk so that it had a deliberate short cut in it for the slowies like me, Ma & Pa. I put in all the ingredients for a Chicken Provençal in the slow cooker and had a banana before I set off, this time. This week we had quite a few people join the walk and it was a good one going to Gunlüklü restaurant and back in a loop. For me, 10km is about my limit and my legs ached. At the end, there were just the 3 of us, me & my parents, but even they were off to the Kefal Tea Gardens via their house so left me just after the market road.
I called at the bakery for bread, then went home to prepare our lunch which was leek and potato soup.

In the afternoon, while Captain Caveman did the laundry and played Bridge on his phone, I did some work. I had a couple of friends who had mentioned Bali to me this week so I was doing a bit of research on the best places to go and what itineraries looked good.
For dinner we had some of the Chicken Provençal which Captain Caveman cooked the potato wedges with, while I was absorbed in Bali. The meal was really nice but we had no time to waste as we were due to go out.
My parents had invited us over for drinks, which was really nice of them. At my parents’ we had some wine, my Mom drank just a couple of beers as she was taking it steady and didn’t want to drink too much. Captain Caveman and Dad made up for it. Mom also had nibbles with cheese and biscuits which were very nice and terribly moreish. I had to remind Captain Caveman to stop shovelling it in like he’d never been fed. Mom even had to get out more cheese and crackers! We had taken wine round but Dad also opened some really nice wine from Cappadocia which was great. It was good to spend time with my parents as they were leaving in 3 weeks and I had no idea when I would see them after that.

Dalyan – 25th & 26th October

I had a very productive Friday 25th October, I had an early breakfast of tea and overnight oats before starting work at 9am. I did lots of training and I added more to my growing To Do list. Captain Caveman was at Bridge Club and had left about 9.45am, he came back at 1pm for lunch but I was still working so I asked him to make our meal. He made some really tasty chicken fajita wraps which I ate at 1.30pm then went back to some more training at 2pm.
Captain Caveman seemed ill with his constant sneezing and blowing his nose and was snappy with me so I suggested he actually did have some rest in bed to sleep it off. I had to remind him that he was not going to bed so that he could play Bridge on his phone all afternoon.
I had scheduled in to my diary to work until 4pm but my Mom was available for me to pop round. We’d mentioned about having an evening together soon and I asked what plans they had for the weekend. They had been invited to one of our friend’s houses for cheese and wine tomorrow night so we suggested Sunday evening would be good for Captain Caveman and I, if they didn’t get a better offer!
I went to the shops as we needed Quark and tinned tomatoes. Word from the Fat Club group had let me know they had some in stock. Here’s what I bought and the prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Milk 28.25
2 tins of tomatoes 59.90
2 Quark 59.90
632g Chicken thighs 132.72
Total spent 280.77 lira (£6.32)

When I got home, Captain Caveman was on the sofa, playing Bridge and still very sneezy. We both agreed I should have bought more tomatoes while they were in stock and I toddled back off, while he went to bed.

Migros Supermarket
Pasta 11.75
Penne pasta 14.96
1kg Flour 22.50
3 tins of tomatoes 89.85
Total spent 139.06 lira (£3.13)

When I got back I cleared out one of the spare room cupboards and prepared dinner which was only a veggie curry, omelette and steamed rice. When I went in to check on Captain Caveman, he was playing Bridge and we had a row. I was annoyed that he was meant to be in bed because he was too ill to do anything else! I told him I was very concerned about this Bridge addiction and that was all he was spending his time doing. His response made me even more mad; he was not addicted because he hadn’t reached 10,000 hours in 3 years yet! Now I realised that was his aim and he obviously was not going to do anything else until he reached that target. I was fuming! Shoot me now!!!!

Captain Caveman was still sneezing and sniffling and had taken to waking me up just before 7.30am with a sneeze on Saturday 26th October. He brought me a cup of Yorkshire tea in bed and we were due to go to the market. We didn’t end up getting there until 11am but we had quite a list of things to get this week. Here’s what we bought at each stall, with prices in lira;

Stall 1
Potatoes & Onions 80 lira (£1.80)

Stall 2
Leeks, pumpkin, red cabbage, 1 lemon
200 lira (£4.50)

Stall 3
Tomatoes & peppers 105 lira (£2.36)

Stall 4
Carrots & Apples 52 lira (£1.71)

Stall 5
Peanuts 100 lira (£2.25)

Stall 6
Mushrooms 50 lira (£1.13)

Stall 7
Olives 100 lira (£2.25)

Total spent 687 lira (£15.47)

This was the most we had spent at the market in a while but we had got quite a lot for the money, some of which would easily last longer than next week, and we still had over 12 (mostly unripe) bananas in the fruit bowl.
Captain Caveman had wanted to go out for a Turkish breakfast but Saklı Bahçe had been closed when he checked. I love Turkish breakfasts but they always make me have a bad stomach for at least 2 days so I preferred to avoid them where possible. I suggested that we could make our own version of a Turkish breakfast at home and I prepared the table with all of this; feta style cheese, roasted red peppers in Quark with garlic, gherkins, baba ghanoush, olives, tomatoes, bread, jam, honey and sliced apple. Captain Caveman made himself an egg to go with his too.
While Captain Caveman played more Bridge on his phone in the afternoon (I give up!), I sorted out lots of clothes and belongings from the spare room and started putting clothes which had been packed away in to the washing pile. We’d already agreed that Captain Caveman would cook dinner tonight so that I could get on with things I needed to do but hadn’t yet. He made a spaghetti carbonara which was very tasty and we shared some red wine with it.

Dalyan – 20th to 22nd October

It was quite a bit cooler in the morning when I woke up with Captain Caveman’s alarm at 7.30am on Sunday 20th October. The forecast for the rest of the month looked really good, though. Captain Caveman brought me my cup of tea in bed and he was looking forward to the Sunday Walk. I was looking less forward to it as I was really tired and a little overwhelmed at how much was on my To Do list, so much so that most of it wasn’t even written on a list yet! I decided I wouldn’t go on the Sunday Walk today, so that I could take the time to get some things done. It didn’t quite work out as planned but I did manage to get some cheese and spinach pasties made with wraps, Slimming World style, and put some lentil, tomato, pumpkin and carrot soup in the slow cooker. It’s surprising how long it takes to chop veg, as Captain Caveman was back from his walk and ready for lunch before I’d done much else. We had leek and potato soup with a freshly cooked pasty and it was delicious.
Luckily, for dinner I had already got out the remaining beef kleftiko from the freezer so all I had to do was pop on the rice cooker and knock up some red cabbage to go with it.

While Captain Caveman went Dogging on the morning of Monday 21st October, I did some work for my new venture, ate overnight oats for breakfast and had a pomegranate when I took a break. I booked in my first meeting with the boss for tomorrow afternoon. At lunch time Captain Caveman came back and I heated up some of the veggie soup for us, with bread!! For dinner I warmed up another freezer special, which was the chicken curry with steamed rice. Later, Captain Caveman and I decided to watch Netflix and I made popcorn, without butter, in my popcorn maker. Within minutes of starting to watch something, Captain Caveman was asleep and snoring away.

I had my usual cup of tea in bed on Tuesday 22nd October and then stayed out of the way of Captain Caveman making his breakfast. He went to his Bridge Club and I made myself some veggie egg fried rice for a late breakfast.
I had a meeting with my new boss where he ran through the Resort Experts’ intranet sight, the quote system, the marketing guide and set me some homework. The session went well and I left the call knowing I had a lot of training to do while my Facebook business page was being built for me. I had 8 training videos to watch and would start doing them tomorrow. I also made a Work To do list and would continue to add to it as I went along.
Captain Caveman called at the shops on the way back from Bridge Club and bought fresh bread for 10 lira (22p) and 2.4kg of bananas for 141.12 lira (£3.17). The bananas, of which there were 13, looked very hard and unripe but Captain Caveman was sure they would quickly ripen. We had lentil and vegetable soup with cheese on toast, which Captain Caveman made as I was still doing work related things. I carried on working, mainly reading and training related stuff, while Captain Caveman lay down and played Bridge on his phone all afternoon.
At 5.30pm, I suggested we go to the shops so that I could get some fresh air and Captain Caveman could stop playing Bridge as it seemed to be getting even more of an obsession recently. Here’s what we bought, prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Potatoes 6.63
Spring onions 24.95
2 Quark 59.90
Tortilla wraps 59.95
Sucuk (Turkish salami) 95.90
Butter 99.95
White Cheese (like Feta) 114.90
Total Spent 500.13 lira (£11.24)

Unfortunately, I wanted to buy chicken, but they had none left – this often seems to happen on a Tuesday for some reason. We walked on to the next shop to look for chicken.

A101 Supermarket
1.7kg Whole chicken 171.24 lira (£3.85)

Back home, and after a snack of cheese spread on bread, I made myself a cup of tea and then got to chopping vegetables. Captain Caveman had gone upstairs for a live online Bridge session but I cannot stand the voice of the man presenting it!
I made roast chicken with rosemary and garlic potatoes, red cabbage and spinach and it tasted really good. There was also plenty left for tomorrow’s meals. I’d already consumed 250 syns this week and then drank 2 glasses of red wine as I’d not had a drink since Friday. This was probably bad news for any anticipated weight loss this week!

Dalyan – 19th October

We were lucky enough to be on another boat trip, on Saturday 19th October, but I was a bit hung over. I felt bad that we had to kick our friend out as we were on a 9.30am start. We quickly had a cup of tea before we walked her to the bus and said our goodbyes. Hopefully, Steff would be able to come over again and we pencilled in for the day of the Dalyan Winter Fayre.
On board the boat today were a lovely mix of friends as well as Captain Caveman and my parents. We were once again with Captain Fuat and The Photographer on Adil boat and this time we were on a route set by the Captain, especially for us.
We had tea and coffee and some birdwatching on the way. We usually see Kingfishers which are popular in Dalyan but we also saw some lesser spotted species that I’d not encountered before.

**Photo credit – photos by friends on the boat, including Paul**

There were courgette fritters handed round by the Captain after we had a visit to a couple of islands. Dad and I swam round one of them with a friend and it was quite far. The water was a little on the cold side but still ok for us Brits – it was fine once you were in. It took quite some effort to swim round the island but we made it and then Dad and I were a bit weak after. While in the water, each of us saw snakes but did not point them out to one another. We saw that there were wild fires towards Dalaman and water planes kept filling up near us in the lake. It turned out no one else had a swim as it was too cold for them, so we decided to warm up at the mud baths.

**Photo credit – some taken by friends on the boat, including Paul**

When we got to Sultaniye, Captain Caveman and I went in with a couple of the others. Ma & Pa went to the pools that normally have domes on but they were being repaired so were open air, the others didn’t want to go in and saved themselves 30 lira (67p) each. Captain Caveman and I really enjoyed the hot pool and he was impressed, as he saw that beers were only 120 lira (£2.70) and they served food. It was now on his list of places to come in the winter. We had a lovely BBQ in a quiet spot and there were lots of different dishes.

Back home, Captain Caveman and I had Slimming World wraps made in to pizza for dinner which I made without realising we didn’t have any melty cheese in the house so we made do. It had been a lovely day out and I was very sleepy as we set our alarms for 7.30am tomorrow.

Dalyan – 18th October

Captain Caveman was at Bridge Club on the morning of Friday 18th October while I worked some more on my book. I’d had more positive feedback about all of my titles and I started to think I could perhaps put out a series of 3 (or more). I also signed my new contract and had now committed fully to being a Travel Advisor for Resort Experts. I started some lists so that I was getting organised for my new role and wrote down ideas and training requirements.
A friend who lives in Hisaranou, Steff, was also on her way to Dalyan and had messaged to say she was leaving Fethiye bus station. I’d got a Book Blueprint Masterclass with Abigail Horne, owner of Authors & Co, at 2pm so we didn’t have long until I needed to go back home for that. Captain Caveman had agreed to entertain Steff and I had drafted in my parents to help out. The idea was that they would go to the beach, I would have my one hour of online course, and then get the next bus down to join them at the beach. We all went to Kaunos tea gardens where I had just a large tea. I rushed back home and the one hour course was very good. I learned about the importance of a blueprint, talked about the difference between expository and narrative non-fiction and I realised my book(s) was going to be a mixture of both styles. I found out about the 10 step structure which was invaluable to me, and I’d already written my introduction, 13 chapter titles and had ideas for my afterward before the masterclass had ended.

On finishing the course, I messaged Steff to check she was ok and if they had got the 3pm bus to the beach, which I would miss but I could get the next one. She replied that they were still at the tea gardens and so I said I would come to them. Captain Caveman told Steff to say to stay where I was and they would come home but it was a lovely sunny day and I didn’t want to be stuck inside. Here’s what we had with prices in lira:
1 Turkish tea 15
1 coffee 50
1 cheese gözleme 150
3 Efes Malt beers at 435
2 white wine & orange juice 450
1 white wine 225
Total spent 1,325 lira (£29.64)

Instead of going to the beach, we said farewell to my parents and the 3 of us decided to go to Retro bar for some wine and cheese. We saw Nusret and Gonca while we were there and it turned out that Steff and her husband knew the new bar man there. The drinks were much more reasonably priced here and we had the following;
4 glasses of wine (with cheese) 400.00
1 Efes Malt 90.00
Total spent 490.00 lira (£10.96)

Conveniently, Captain Caveman had gone home to start making our dinner so I paid the bill then we walked round, feeling a bit chilly. Back home, Captain Caveman was making the 3 of us some pasta with meatballs and we had some drinks in the fridge.
After dinner, and a cheeky Malibu and diet coke, Steff and I went to the shop. Captain Caveman also thought it was probably unwise for her to get the bus all the way back late at night and said she could stay over. At the shop, Steff not only bought a bottle of white wine, but she got some extra snacks/crisps.
Captain Caveman polished off the snacks and fell asleep while Steff and I were chatting so I sent him to bed before us. I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d needed before Steff arrived, but we had laughed so much that the time had flown by and I’d realised I’d missed this! Because Steff and I had both been on health kicks as well as concentrating on our own careers, we were lightweights now but it was good to let our hair down. It was definitely gone midnight when we retired and I knew I would regret it in the morning.

Photo credit – some taken by Steff and Captain Caveman

Dalyan – 17th October

Thursday 17th October was set aside for book writing and I got stuck in to that straight after my cup of tea and a Slimming World pancake. I had now perfected the odd pancake which uses egg, mushed banana and oats to make a healthy pancake, topped with a sliced banana and a drizzle of honey. It tasted lovely and was on plan so I felt better after veering off plan yesterday.

After getting my proposed book titles for my book completed, I set off to meet Captain Caveman who was at Kefal tea gardens with the other Bummers. He’d been collecting the trash and was now having a beer and a toastie, which I had a little bit of with a lemon soda.

The bill at the tea gardens was;

1 Lemon soda 25.00
1 Mixed toastie 100.00
1 Efes Malt beer 145.00
Total spent 270 lira (£6.07)

I didn’t think the price was bad but some of the expats I knew, had stopped going to the tea gardens as they thought it was far too expensive for alcohol.

Back home, I spotted a caterpillar and learned something new; the eyes on the caterpillar are actually a pattern on their bum. Apparently, this is to confuse it’s enemies. For lunch we had more leek and potato soup with bread so I was already on 88 syns for the week – and it was only day 2!
I got on with more book and blog writing and then we had chicken curry for dinner.
In the evening I had a few replies on my book title ideas which made me rethink my original plan.

Dalyan & Köyceğiz – 16th October

It was the last Ladies Only Moonlight boat trip of the year, on Wednesday 16th October. Unfortunately, we had arranged it to leave at 3pm which meant I couldn’t go to Fat Club this week. I still took my measurements and got on the home scales; I had lost 1cm from my bust, but put 1cm on both waist and hips which was disappointing as I’d done quite well this week. My home scales said I had lost 1.1kg (2.4lb) but only carol’s scales were the reading to go by. Captain Caveman brought me tea in bed and then did his own breakfast. Carol messaged to say that I could walk to her house, where she would leave her scales in a safe place and I could get weighed still. I walked from our place to where I thought Carol lived but then got lost and couldn’t find her house. After 40 minutes, I gave up as Captain Caveman and I had a meeting at King Emlak at 9am. I was going to be late so I went straight to the estate agents and happened to be the first there.
I got laughed at for getting lost trying to find Carol’s as it was really close to where we were so we both walked from King Emlak to Carol’s for me to get weighed. Once there, we found that Carol had forgotten to leave the scales out. A little disappointed, we walked back home only to get a message from Carol to say she had forgotten and to apologise. Oh well, at least I had done over an hour of walking before 10am.
Back home, I was so hungry, I ate a banana. I went to my Turkish class at Lukka bar and then came back to do day 3 of my Get it Started course. I was starting to think I’d got too much to do before the boat trip that I was getting a bit stressed. Captain Caveman was getting on my nerves a bit for not listening and being engrossed in playing Bridge on his phone at every opportunity, even when he could see I was trying to do everything that needed doing. While I had been at Turkish class, he had gone to the shop, thinking he was being helpful by buying ‘essentials’ but I disagreed. Here’s what he got and the prices in lira;

BIM supermarket
Bin Bags 25.00
750ml Liquid Soap 93.50
Total spent 118.50 lira (£2.67)

Şok Supermarket
10 eggs 59.00 lira (£1.33)

In my opinion the bin liners were too thin and small and I had already told Captain Caveman that if we ran out of soap in any of the 4 dispensers at the 4 sinks, I had more Olive Oil (non-allergenic) in a new bottle, beneath the kitchen sink. So now we had more soap, that we didn’t need. He had used the last of the frozen berries in a smoothie though, so he had to go get some more a couple of hours later.
For lunch, I was busy trying to get everything done so Captain Caveman made me a peanut butter sandwich, as he was having one with Marmite on too! I’d asked Captain Caveman if he was going to meet some of the other halves of the ladies but he didn’t know them well enough to do that. I’d invited my Mom on the trip, thinking Captain Caveman and Dad could go to the pub while we were gone, but she didn’t fancy it and didn’t want to leave Dad unattended.

By the time I got to the boat for our Ladies Only moonlight trip, I was feeling very light-headed and a bit woozy but I was determined to have a good time.
The cost of the trip was £30 and a glass of wine was 140 lira (£2.42) which I thought was good value for money. Captain Fuat on Adil boat is one of my favourites and he even gave out Pomegranate wine to everyone with cake at the beginning of the trip, which was a nice touch as we sailed to Köyceğiz.

We had a visit to the market town (no market, but a bit of browsing in the shops for tat) and then got back on the boat to sail out to a sunset swim. It was absolutely wonderful and the water was still warm enough to get away with a nice swim. As is usual on these boat trips, there was so much food to enjoy and I noticed that the Captain just kept on feeding us with courgette fritters, chicken nuggets, chips, fruit and then a full buffet style dinner. I also indulged in a couple of rosé wines and spent time chatting with the ladies, which was nice. It was a very lovely trip and, when I got home, I was super tired.

Photo credit – some photos by other ladies on the boat, the Captain and The Photographer

Dalyan – 15th October

On Tuesday 15th October I made Vietnamese pho ga (chicken noodle soup) for breakfast, which was really tasty. Obviously, it was using pho stock cubes from Vietnam so not completely authentic, but it definitely satisfied my craving for it. I added chillies to Captain Caveman’s but they were a bit lively! I messaged Mom, as she had still not messaged about not popping over last night. They had ended up in Tapa with the rest of the boat trip friends. She said her battery had died but assumed we wouldn’t have come even if she had invited us!
Captain Caveman went to Bridge Club and I attended day 2 of the Get it Started free course, which went really well. I got peckish late morning and had a banana sandwich but still had leek and potato soup with Captain Caveman for lunch.
While he popped to the shops to buy ordinary rice from Bim for less than a £1 for 1kg, I finished my course homework and did some work on my book and blog.
I nipped to the bank, checked the exchange rate at Aksoy and the exchange place near the turtle roundabout; they were 44.0 and 43.5. I went to my parents’, to wish them a late happy anniversary, they were having a quiet day after a large one on the booze yesterday. They had loved their time on the yellow boat yesterday and said they had been invited on a free trip for this weekend, which was the same date as a boat trip they were on with us. They’d turned it down because of not wanting to let me down on the one I’d organised, that wasn’t free.
Back home, I nibbled on grapes and some peanuts and then made courgette risotto for dinner. I really liked it, Captain Caveman isn’t keen on courgettes but he still ate 2 portions of it! There was no wine tonight as I had weigh in tomorrow and I had done quite well on only consuming 162 syns this week.

Dalyan – 13th & 14th October

It was the next Sunday Walk on Sunday 13th October and Captain Caveman was once again in charge. It was a nice walk and I didn’t get lost on this one. Ma & Pa had not joined us this week as they were going to Jamie’s to look at buying one of his sofas. It did mean that I had to keep up with the group, though, and I did 10km in the hot sun. Luckily, I got to chat with Peter, who is a very nice chap and we ended up sharing my banana as neither of us had eaten any breakfast.

At the tea garden, Captain Caveman had a beer but I was sensible with a lemon soda and was feeling quite peckish. We went home for lunch where we had chicken salad sandwiches, with grapes and peanuts as a side for a bit more energy.
I contemplated a nannan nap but I didn’t get one as I prepared dinner; leftover bolognese with red lentils and roasted pumpkin – Slimming World style. After scrubbing the Yorkshire pudding trays every day with no progress I tried the bicarbonate of soda trick but they were still ruined.
Tomorrow was my parents’ 52nd wedding anniversary and they had plans to go on the yellow boat to Köyceğiz for their celebration with Dalyan friends. They were really looking forward to it and quite a few of the other Dalyan Dwellers were invited. My Mom messaged to ask if we would like to join but I declined. Captain Caveman was at the dog shelter tomorrow and I was on another free course. If there had been a bit more notice then I would have loved to have gone. Instead, I invited my parents to call in for a drink when they got back so that we could wish them a happy anniversary.

While my parents tootled off for an amazing anniversary boat trip to Köyceğiz, on Monday 14th October, Captain Caveman and I got on with our ‘normal’ Monday. Captain Caveman had his breakfast and went Dogging (helping out at the Dog Shelter) after bringing me my usual Yorkshire tea in bed. I had overnight oats for breakfast but then got peckish mid-morning and had 2 crackers with some cheese on.
I joined the Get it Started free course with Abigail Horne, owner of Authors & Co, which would help me get a book that I was writing, published. The first session was really useful and we were set to work straight away with a task for homework. I felt motivated and did it straight away.
Captain Caveman was back at lunch time so we had left over bolognese with pasta for our lunch.
In the late afternoon we had a little walk for me to get some fresh air, then I made a chicken and leek bake, from scratch, for dinner. Captain Caveman and I really enjoyed it, I had added a bit of sucuk (Turkish salami) to it, for extra flavour. We even had a bottle of wine with our dinner and did a toast to my parents. The photos of them on Facebook showed that they were having a really good time and I was pleased that they were celebrating their anniversary! Unfortunately, we had to drink the whole bottle between the 2 of us because, as I suspected, my parents were just too busy having fun that they didn’t come round and I didn’t hear from them.

Dalyan – 12th October

Our first job of the day on Saturday 12th October was a visit to the weekly market. It was Captain Caveman’s first one of this year and it was on his schedule to go every Saturday morning. The weather was nice and I was pleased to have a partner with me to carry the heavy rucksack, all I had to do was check that we had everything from our list and make a note of the prices, here they are;

Stall 1
Potatoes & onions 39 lira (87p)

Stall 2
Bananas & grapes 115 lira (£2.57)

Stall 3
Leeks, pumpkin, tomatoes, peppers & courgettes 190 lira (£4.24)

Stall 4
Spinach, red cabbage, aubergines & carrots 120 lira (£2.68)

Total spent at the market 464 lira (10.36)

I’m always interested to know how prices and availability of items compare, does anyone else spend about £10 per week for 2 adults? Do you set a budget? Feel free to comment what you do or what you think to my budget. Mine is the same when it’s just me, but I will just adjust how much I can batch cook.

Our next stop was for a lightbulb as just one of our bedroom wall lights had gone. Unfortunately, in the shop which sells everything, it had attracted 4 English expats who had perhaps not seen the other couple in a while as they took up the aisle we needed and part of the entrance way, while they chatted heartedly for quite some time. I tried polite ‘excuse me’s which fell on deaf ears and Captain Caveman tried the more direct approach of pushing through with a heavy backpack but alas they did not budge. All 4 of them were completely oblivious as other shoppers came in and left the shop. The lady at the pay desk didn’t look too pleased either. We bought the closest lightbulb to the old one that Captain Caveman had brought along but it did not look the same.

Millennium Shop
Lightbulb 45 lira (£1)

I also had no idea how much a light bulb would cost in any country.

Back home, I unpacked the shopping and popped it away while Captain Caveman replaced the lightbulb which worked.
I caught up on having veggie egg fried rice for a late breakfast, Captain Caveman had already had his before we went to the market.
For lunch, which we had late at 2.45pm, Captain Caveman made a veggie pasta dish with 2 types of pasta shapes (fancy)!
After lunch, I cracked on with my Turkish homework which was focusing on how to say ‘until’. At 4.30pm Captain Caveman and I decided to have a walk round to the shops as we needed a couple of bits ready for our dinner guest. Here’s what we bought, prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Soft Cheese 79.90
Peanut Butter 79.95
A 2kg chicken 145.55
Total spent 305.40 lira (£6.82)

Jamie arrived and I had a bottle of Prosecco in the fridge that I had been keeping for when Captain Caveman arrived, but had never opened it. Captain Caveman popped it open and poured 3 wine glasses and then took a photo of me and Jamie. We had a nice chicken dinner with a bit of wine but didn’t go mad as all 3 of us had stuff we needed to be doing tomorrow.

Dalyan – 9th & 10th October

When I took my measurements on Wednesday 9th October I was pleasantly surprised that they weren’t worse; I had put 1cm on my bust and hips but my waist had stayed the same. On the home scales though, I had put on 1.1kg (2.4lb), which I was less pleased, but not surprised, about. Captain Caveman also got weighed and he decided he would start to track what he weighed, although he was not overweight, like me.
I only had a Yorkshire tea but no breakfast as I didn’t have time before my Turkish class and I needed to call at the bank (again). I had re-joined a group, as there weren’t any spaces for a private lesson, so I went along to my first one. It was held at Lukka bar and it was nice to find I already knew 2 of the other members of the class, Cath & Keith. I had missed a lot of Turkish but I didn’t struggle to keep up too much. When I had time, I needed to revise what I already had learned but I didn’t seem to get round to it above everything else on the To Do list. At Lukka I ordered a Turkish tea for 25 lira (56p), which is cheap but 2.5 times more than at the tea gardens.
I came home for lunch and we ate a chicken and chickpea curry I had batched cooked a while ago and was Slimming World friendly. At Fat Club, I’m not actually sure what happened, but Carol’s scales said I had stayed the same as last week. This was odd as this morning I had been heavier plus I had been eating and drinking since. I was pleased, but knew I’d have to be careful it didn’t catch up with me next week.
A friend popped round in the afternoon to say hello and bring me a couple of items of clothes which I had left at her place. We had a chat and she didn’t stay long. I made a salad for dinner, trying to start the week off on track but then we opened a bottle of rosé wine. I had 2 glasses but Captain Caveman had a really bad sneezing fit after drinking it and was probably allergic to the sulphites in it, as he was quite ill.

Captain Caveman joined the Riverbums on their clean up team on Thursday 10th October. They go out by boat, every Thursday morning, to clean up rubbish from the river and surrounding areas. It was on his schedule and we affectionately call it Bumming. I had a cup of tea, bread with butter and jam for breakfast.
I spent the morning sending out more CVs, doing some writing and researching a new company that I was interested in working for while it was quiet at home.
For lunch I made some Slimming World muffins which contained sweet potato, onion, spinach, egg, milk, feta and spices. Unfortunately they stuck to the Yorkshire pudding tin, despite using spray oil, and the tray was ruined. On the plus side, the muffins tasted amazing. They must have been good as I was hoping they would last until tomorrow but when I looked up, Captain Caveman had polished off 5!!!
We were having more curry for dinner but I had run out of Jasmine rice so Captain Caveman went to the shop. Here’s what he bought and the prices in lira:

Şok Supermarket
10 Eggs 59.00
2 x 1kg bags Jasmine rice 89.00
Washing powder 199.90
Total spent 347.90 lira (£7.77)

That night we had our curry with naan bread and it was really tasty, Captain Caveman decided it would go well with a rum so I also had one. He was still extremely sneezy but not quite as bad as yesterday.

Dalyan – 8th October

Captain Caveman and I were lucky enough to be invited on a boat trip on Tuesday 8th October. Jamie was on his way back from New York and was arriving earlier than I had anticipated which made it easier for me to leave Norman and Edna after their morning routines. Captain Caveman was scheduled to be playing Bridge but wasn’t going today which gave us a rare opportunity for him to be available.
We joined Captain Fuat’s Adil boat at 10am and were off to sea with some lovely swimming and snorkelling stops along the way. We had hot drinks and simit as we sailed out to some beautiful coves for our first swim in a really nice spot. Once I take my glasses off, I can’t see to snorkel so I just had a good swim, going several times around the boat. While Captain Caveman swam to shore to pick up trash, I joined some of the ladies to clamber up some rocks. Back on board, the captain had thought we might be peckish and gave us some chicken nuggets and chips as interim nibbles before lunch.

There was a delicious BBQ for lunch and I had a couple of rosé wines with mine, Captain Caveman started on beer and then moved on to wine as both were 140 lira (£3.13) so the wine was better value. I just had the one plate for lunch as I’m always the slowest eater, on it I had; chicken, salad, köfte, green beans, yoghurt, mushrooms, potatoes, rice and a piece of brown bread. Captain Caveman certainly got his money’s worth with seconds and I gave him my köfte too.
There was more swimming and relaxing, we had another wine and enjoyed the hot weather. Later, the captain brought out a cake, as is his speciality, and I indulged even though it would probably not be good on my stomach later. It was gone 6pm when we got back to Dalyan after a really lovely boat trip with a great bunch of people.
After overeating on the boat, I didn’t need any dinner but I did have a couple of cubes of feta style cheese to keep the calcium levels up. It is never a good idea doing a boat trip the day before weigh day and Fat Club but I would suffer the consequences tomorrow. This week I had consumed 130 syns more than last week, at 336 syns, as I had expected I would with Captain Caveman being home.