On Thursday 9th February I woke up feeling cold despite wearing my dressing gown for bed. I had a cup of Yorkshire tea and some cornflakes before getting on with some last minute arrangements for the weekend. For lunch I had a bit of a mixture; 10 olives, 4 gherkins, carrots, pickled onions, and homemade Baba Ganoush with fresh bread. I decided on another no meat day today as I was trying to be extra frugal with the housekeeping. I slipped off the diet somewhat in the afternoon when I ate a small bag of jellies (which I was meant to be packing in my rucksack for the weekend), drank an Efes beer and ate 2 pieces of chocolate orange. I went to Tez bar to say goodbye to Vanessa and Brad. This is why I had the beer, but it was still within my syns and I was under control, honest! I got back on track for dinner with veggie egg fried rice but then ended up having a glass of red wine with some cheese while watching Netflix.
My blog posts were about to get disrupted slightly from today, Friday 10th February. I decided to take a day off from blogging about life. I had a cup of Yorkshire tea and some fresh bread with hazelnut spread, to finish it off. At 9.30am I got picked up to go to Fethiye in the morning but was back within a few hours. I made it back in time for a quick shop, where I bought some probiotic drinks, wine gums and satsumas for a total of 46.12 lira (£2). I ate steamed rice with sweetcorn and egg for lunch, before going to Lukka bar for my Turkish class. In the afternoon I accidentally snaffled some crisps because I was peckish then had a veggie pot noodle for dinner. I had managed my 3rd day of no meat and 2nd day of no alcohol this week but I did know that tomorrow I would definitely be going off plan. I packed my bags, including a Tupperware of emergency snacks such as carrots, walnuts, cake, jellies, a satsuma and the rest of the chocolate orange. I tried to have a nap but didn’t get one. My blog would miss a day tomorrow and start again on Sunday.
On Tuesday 7th February I had an appointment with Vanessa and our friend ‘007’ at 11.15am. The Turkish classes were now back at Lukka bar, which although it was nearer to where I lived, it meant we wouldn’t be going to Ela’s Kitchen. The temptation to have a fry up breakfast would be avoided at least though. For lunch we went to Jiks and all ordered the breakfast, mine without eggs and tomatoes, and it was good, but not a patch on the one at Ela’s Kitchen. After lunch, Vanessa and I tried to buy cutters for removing Brad’s stitches but the pharmacist said he needed to go to a doctor for that. Next, we went to singing group at the Merhaba Cafe, in Mico hotel. As we were leaving I got a message from Jamie, he was at Lukka bar with the Beverley sisters if I fancied popping in. I did and I had myself a beer and some peanuts while chatting away. Mark came to meet us for one and then was off to Tez with Kate, so I joined them. Matt, Vanessa and Brad also came to join as Vanessa had said they all fancied a burger. I unexpectedly decided to join them for food and ordered a cheese burger too, completely forgetting I’d already gone way over my syn allowance and that it was Fat Club tomorrow. Matt didn’t want a burger after all and Tez ordered him a tuna and onion pizza from Pizza 48, which luckily arrived at the same time as the burgers. It was the first time I’d had a burger at Tez bar and I have to say it was absolutely delicious. It was really getting cold at night so by 7.30pm I was back home in front of the TV with a blanket over my legs! As I’d already ruined my diet, I went one step further and ate some of the dark chocolate orange from Josh! I’d gone a bit mad on the spending today, despite me still waiting on some money I was owed. Today I’d spent a whopping 500 lira (just less than £22) on lunch, beers and dinner – I would probably regret not being frugal.
It was very cold when I got up at 7.30am on Sunday 5th February. Norman and Edna were still snoozy and Little Ted had slept longer than yesterday. Teddy was a bit overexcited to see me and accidentally caught my lip with his mouth when he was trying to give me kisses. It hurt but it didn’t draw blood so I thought I’d be ok. While I had my cup of tea, all 3 dogs wanted cuddles and they had to share me, begrudgingly. Norman, Little Ted and I were all squeezed in to the arm chair where the dogs had a nice little nap. I didn’t have chance for any breakfast! Every time Norman snored, Little Ted raised his head in a disapproving manner which was funny.
I decided to try walking all 3 of the dogs together but when I went to get my shoes I’d made a massive error. I’d left them out and at some point, Teddy had chewed them. Luckily I had brought another pair of shoes with me as I had an important lunch date that I didn’t want to miss. The walk with 3 dogs was hilarious and I looked like I was going to get tangled up at one point. I’m sure I heard Edna say to Norman ‘Come back, Charlie’. Little Ted was just happy to be out with his new pals and wanted to jump up a lot. I got back, hoping for a shower but the water was off and I looked a state – I didn’t even have any wet wipes. I used the filter water to clean my teeth and wash my face but that would have to do. The rain was torrential just at the time that I needed to leave, and the water came back on as I was going.
Video of Teddy being a bit friendly with his toy
Lukka bar had reopened this weekend and was doing Sunday lunch today. I’d already asked some friends if they fancied it and I’d remembered that Vanessa’s son, Brad, loved a Sunday dinner as she had mentioned they often go out together for one in the UK. We had all pre ordered our meals and agreed to meet at 2pm at Lukka bar. The Beef Sunday dinner was 255 lira (£11.10), the chicken dinner is only 185 lira (£8.05). The portion size is massive so I took Tupperware for any leftovers (I hate wasting food and money). On arrival, Linda and I decided to splash out on a bottle of red wine between us, Nanny Kay was driving so had a soft drink. Brad arrived extremely apologetic having not been able to find where Vanessa had hidden the house keys, making him a tad late. He ordered a beer and I introduced him to Linda and Nanny Kay. Linda and I had lots of cat talk as she was looking after Kate’s 6 cats for the first time in ages and had taken over from Vinnie. When the food came it looked fantastic, there was no cheese sauce on the cauliflower, as advertised, and I had my gravy on the side so I could do damage limitations on my Slimming World diet. Nanny Kay was short on carrots and the Brussel sprouts could do with a few minutes more cooking as they were too hard, so I let the waiter know for future diners. The Yorkshire puddings are phenomenal and the biggest I’ve ever had, this is a good recommendation to a Turkish chef from a Yorkshire lass, who hasn’t been to England for 13 months. I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and the company, we had a break before dessert where I filled my Tupperware with half of my dinner, plus the others’ spare sprouts and Nanny Kay’s left over Yorkshire pud. I had a smaller Tupperware which I intended the apple crumble to go in, however, when it came I couldn’t resist it. We’d all had a jolly good time but the rain was threatening again so we said our farewells. Nanny Kay drove home, Linda cycled to Mark and Kate’s and, as you may have guessed, Brad and I decided we could probably have another drink!
Brad kindly agreed to a dog walk, to walk off a bit of our Sunday dinner and get some exercise for his recovering knee. I had to call in to Captain Caveman’s apartment briefly on the way. As I pointed out to duck under the rose thorns, Brad snapped the stems with his bare hands and tucked them in to the plant – that was that problem solved! We went to Jamie’s and collected all 3 dogs who were obviously pleased to be getting out after being left for 3 hours, Little Ted in his crate. When I told them we would have a walk to the Waterfall, Edna was beside herself with excitement at the chance to see Skippy. Little Ted didn’t remember what Waterfall meant but was enthusiastic regardless. After a walk around the block and round by Poo corner we arrived at the Waterfall. All the dogs were made welcome and a fuss made of them but Skippy wasn’t there to see that I’d not shrunk Norman. Brad and I got chatting, the dogs were quite happy and we ended up having a couple more drinks in the Waterfall where it was toasty warm. We were reassuring ourselves that we were quite fortunate not to be on the all inclusive-big-bender weekend for Alp’s birthday. We knew that without our partners there we’d probably have had alcohol poisoning by now, as well as putting on loads of weight from the all you can eat food! We had a good laugh and when it got to the dog’s dinner time we decided to grab more drinks and go back to Jamie’s.
I never thought to offer Brad the WiFi password at Jamie’s villa and we were just so busy chatting that we didn’t check our phones. After more red wine for me and beer for Brad I decided to do us a curry for dinner. I was a bit drunk and had to do the rice in a pan for the first time in years, the curry was a vegetarian Dahl type so I chucked in some leftover cooked chicken from Jamie’s fridge. It was pretty good and we ate it all, as if we’d not already had a big lunch! We didn’t realise the time until Vanessa messaged to check Brad was ok! As no one had heard from him, and he’d only gone out for Sunday lunch with the ‘oldies’ at 2pm, there were concerns from his girlfriend and parents. It was after midnight when Brad left and I told him to message me once he got home. I got in bed and fell asleep before seeing that message.
It was Big Alp’s 50th birthday weekend in Antalya on Friday 3rd February and it looked like most of Dalyan was going. Matt and Vanessa had organised a bus to take people from Dalyan as well as a lot of Alp’s Turkish friends taking their own transport. I do know Alp, and I was at his birthday party at Sofra bar last year, however I wouldn’t class myself as someone who would join him for a weekend birthday bash 250km away. As it happened, there were people going who knew Alp less than I did. Everyone was staying at the 5 star hotel, Delphin Imperial Lara, which was all inclusive. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good booze up but it wasn’t something I fancied for 3 whole days. It might have been different if I’d been going with Captain Caveman so that we could take advantage of the all inclusive minibar and the facilities together. Before I even knew about this little get away, I’d already booked Jamie in for house and dog sitting, without realising he was going to Alp’s birthday weekend. Katrina had also managed to piggyback on to the action by sending Little Teddy to stay with me, Norman and Edna – things were about to get lively! Jamie picked me up at 8am to take me to his villa. He was all set to leave with Katrina, Mehmet and the kids once they arrived. When Katrina got there, she had brought Little Ted, his crate, lead, puppy pads and his food but had forgotten a couple of bits. They were late and in a rush to leave so she gave me her house keys so that I could fetch Teddy’s things and also asked me to hang out the washing from the machine. If Norman and Edna weren’t keen on Charlie coming to stay, then Little Ted was definitely less welcome. As soon as everyone had left for Antalya, Norman and Edna resorted to safety corner on the sofa and wouldn’t shift.
What do Norman and Edna think of Little Ted?
Katrina had assured me that the puppy was toilet trained but I stopped counting at 23 pees and 2 poos all in Jamie’s house. I got through so much toilet roll in that first day as Jamie doesn’t have kitchen roll. We went outside every 30 minutes but Little Ted peed as soon as he came back in. I took him with me when I went over to Katrina’s, Norman and Edna hoped he wasn’t coming back. He was very cute but you couldn’t take your eyes off him for long. I was getting the washing out of the machine when he found a balloon and popped it! With hindsight I’d have been better off if we’d all moved in to Katrina’s, where Little Ted had been trained and was in a bit more of a routine. I carried the dog bed and bowl back over while walking a tiny puppy who just wanted to be picked up all the time. I made sure I didn’t pick him up so that he had to walk, it was only a short distance but it took a while.
Teddy with a balloon
Jamie had left me some bacon in the fridge so I had a couple of rashers on toast (no butter) for breakfast then took Norman and Edna out while Teddy was in his crate, whining to get out. For most of the day Norman and Edna made it clear that the puppy was not welcome as he peed everywhere but on the puppy pad. I had vegetable soup with noodles for lunch then I took all 3 dogs on the back garden to see if they would get along better – they didn’t! After another little walk for Teddy, and a longer walk for Norman and Edna, I started making dinner. I’d already got the beef bourguignon in the slow cooker but I had a go at Gluten Free Yorkshire puddings in Jamie’s Pampered Chef stoneware. I wasn’t going to drink this weekend but after feeling like I’d had a very long day, I had 2 glasses of wine while Little Ted slept. On the plus side, I’d not spent any money as I’d not been anywhere.
I was up and about at Mark and Kate’s by 8am, on Thursday 2nd February. Kate made me a cup of tea and then went back to bed while I sat on their lovely new sofa. JC came to see if there was anything we could watch on TV and looked at me while I sipped my tea. I got a lift back in to town on the mobility scooter with Mark and Kate and went to the bank. Kate had recommended a few things in the supermarket that I wanted to try, including the nan bread from last night, so I decided to walk with Kate, who was off for her hair doing, to go to Bim. Here’s what I bought:
1st Bim Supermarket Carrier bag 0.25 Fresh loaf 5.00 Brown sliced loaf 11.50 4 nan breads 15.95 Total spent 32.70 lira (£1.43)
I’d had to go to both Bims because the offers they had on meat had lead to a shortage. At home I had a cheese sandwich for my breakfast before quickly getting ready for my Turkish class at Ela’s Kitchen. I was super thirsty when I got there so I completely forgot my new Frugal February rule, to have a large water, and automatically ordered a cup of tea and an orange juice. These came to 55 lira (£2.42) and the Turkish class itself was only 50 lira (£2.19)! Back home I had a bowl of soup with noodles in for lunch and had a chat to Captain Caveman. For dinner I ate more bread, some gorgonzola cheese, which needed eating up, and some olives. I also started to pack my bags as I was off on another dogsitting stint tomorrow!
Wednesday 1st February marked the day where I aimed to make a few changes. I wanted to be more frugal, find a more suitable part-time job, get paid what I was already owed and lose some weight. I never make new year resolutions for January as I know I will fail, especially as it’s my birthday month. February was a shorter month and would be easier to put some goals in place. The first thing I did when I got up was to get weighed on the home scales and take my measurements. The home scales read heavier than Carol’s at Fat Club but, if they were correct, I had lost a little bit more – I would find out this afternoon at Fat Club. All of my measurements had either decreased of remained the same so it was looking like a promising start. I had cornflakes with skimmed milk and a cup of Yorkshire tea for breakfast then went to the bank and supermarkets, here’s what I bought:
Migros Supermarket Bag of garlic 9.34 835g onions 10.77 M&Ms 10.90 140g plain Quark 14.95 1.7kg potatoes 15.26 Bin bags 18.50 2 pot noodles 19.80 400g Mushrooms 29.90 450g Spinach 34.90 Cream cheese 49.90 Total spent 189.32 lira (£8.30)
Şok Supermarket Wine gums 6.95 2 packet of plain crisps 23.50 Rice 27.50 Total spent 57.95 lira (£2.54)
Mark and Kate were having a curry night at their’s later and Kate had invited me. I said I’d bring a Saag Aloo dish with me too. I hurried along to Fat Club, eager to find out my results. Remarkably, I had lost 0.9kg (almost 2lb) and had now exceeded a total loss of 3.6kg (7.9lb, over half a stone) which was a great start to the month. Spurred on by a good result, I decided not to have a cup of tea which is served with a biscuit and decided to order a large bottle of water. Back at home I set about making my dish for tonight and wolfed down a late lunch of chicken, sweetcorn and egg fried rice using the left over chicken shish from Kordon’s on my birthday, which I’d got out of the freezer earlier. Once I’d made my potato and spinach dish I got a taxi over to Mark and Kate’s as I was running late and the pan was too big to carry. Fikri’s prices had increased by 20% to 60 lira (£2.63) for the 3.3km drive. When I arrived, there was just Kate at home so I wasn’t actually late. Mark and the other guests were all still at Rehab bar after pool had finished. Kate had made a delightful meal of onion bhajis, chicken curry, rice, nan breads, and various salad, chutneys and dips. It was lovely and I really enjoyed it with my bottle of Tılsım red wine I’d allowed myself, using my syns. It was good to see that Mark and Kate now had a cat room where they all had an individual bed and a litter tray, this would make it so much easier to look after them in the winter. I ended up staying over in the upstairs bedroom instead of getting a taxi back as I’d drank a whole bottle of wine to myself.
On Monday 30th January I was on my way to Jamie’s villa by 9.30am, for a short spell of dog sitting. On my way out, I almost scratched my face on the thorny rose bushes and I made a mental note to ask Vanessa if I could borrow some loppers to cut them. Norman and Edna were, of course, pleased to see me and we spent the morning watching some house programmes on TV. I had some Slimming World potato wedges for lunch but also cooked some roast potatoes to have with a chicken casserole for dinner. I even made enough for Jamie, without mushrooms in, for when he got back tomorrow. I was looking forward to trying out the new bed which was super comfy. The dogs didn’t want to sleep downstairs and they insisted they also try out the new bed. With it being so high, I had to pick the dogs up to get them on, and they loved snuggling under the new pink blanket.
Captain Caveman was out of the cave on Tuesday 31st January and we arranged to have a video call later today. Norman and Edna stayed on the bed with me while I drank my cup of tea and we all really loved that new bed. I had no news on the work front which was disappointing and I made a note to update my CV and get actively looking for a new job. After walking the dogs, I went to the bank and changed US dollars in to Turkish lira. I also decided that Frugal February was an absolute must if I was to be able to afford to pay the bills, go to Vietnam and still have some sort of social life here in Dalyan. At 11.30am I went to Ela’s Kitchen to meet Vanessa and a friend, who we call 007, after their Turkish class. We all ordered a breakfast for lunch and had a lovely catch up. In the afternoon Vanessa, Kate and I went to singing group and had a good sing along, I even succumbed to having a strawberry bun which was very nice. At 4pm I went to Tez bar for a drink with Vanessa, Matt & Brad, Mark, Kate & Vinnie, Nick & Angela, Andy & Kaye, Sheila and Gay Gaz so it was fairly busy. I had the 1 drink and then went home to speak to Captain Caveman, he was in good spirits and had enjoyed his tour. Unfortunately, due to finances and Captain Caveman’s schedule, I probably would have to delay me going out there until we were better off. This meant I would have to cope without seeing Captain Caveman for a bit longer but we would hope to plan my visit for when he had the most available days so we could spend the maximum amount of time together. I had another one of those home made wrap pizzas for dinner and then set about trying to write up a budget for February.
I felt absolutely shattered on Friday 27th January, after only a few hours sleep. Charlie was in Abi’s bed with me and he’d been scared of the wind during the night. At 8.30am I went to survey the outside balconies and found the furniture had blown everywhere. A screen fence had fell off the roof and I could see that on the ground there was some damage to the front of the complex fence. There was a slight gap in the rain storms so I got my casual clothes and a big coat on to go for a jog with Charlie. We had to be quick as the rain was threatening the whole time we were out and the wind was still blustery. We’d just got in when the torrential rain came and Charlie was scared. I snuggled him up in his favourite blanket and made sure he had Slothy, his best toy, with him while I went out for just over an hour to Turkish class. When I got back, I’d got a bit wet in the rain so went to have a shower. Charlie was still worried about the storm so he came in the bathroom too. I spoke to Helen about Gill, her friend who was taking Charlie, arriving later today. She sent me Gill’s number so that I could discuss directly about me dropping Charlie off this weekend. It wouldn’t be tonight as Gill was still on her way to Turkey, but tonight would probably be my last one with Charlie. Meanwhile, Captain Caveman had arrived back in Phong Nha and was at his Oxalis briefing ready for his tour tomorrow. That evening, I had something planned which even the manager at the venue had been sceptical about because of the weather.
I’d originally planned to go to Fethiye for the day with Jamie, Ann and Nanny Kay where, instead of drinking too much, we would go bowling to celebrate my birthday. In the end we’d decided not to go as I would have had to miss Turkish class and it could be too busy with families at a weekend. We would go for a meal and drinks in Dalyan instead and we decided Hotel Dalyance was a good choice for everyone. I’d not been in ages and I love the food there. We also had the added surprise that Jamie’s partner, Drew, had decided to come to Dalyan and had just arrived. The 5 of us had a lovely table and by 6.20pm I had a beer and a red wine on the go while tucking in to the complimentary bread and olives. Nanny Kay bought me a bottle of red wine with some Smarties and a chocolate bar attached which was very generous of her, especially as I thought that she already gave me a bottle of wine for my birthday. That one was just for having her over for dinner, as it turns out, so I wasn’t complaining and it was much appreciated. Sarah came to take our order and she recommended the pepper chicken for me, which sounded good. When it came, I was very impressed and it tasted delicious. I enjoyed my night, the food and wine at Hotel Dalyance with my friends but we were getting the bill before 9pm! It looked like the night was coming to an end quite early on a Friday night, luckily I’d not dressed up for it but everyone I was with looked like they had made a bit more effort. Jamie, Drew, Nanny Kay and I decided we would go for 1 or 2 more at Sofra bar. Ann said her goodbyes and went back home as she didn’t fancy going on for another drink as she was closer to home at Hotel Dalyance.
When we got there, it was pretty quiet but I had a couple of red wines while the boys managed 2 bottles of wine between them. Nanny Kay and I were having a nice chat when Mark walked in and joined our table. Sofra is one of the main go-to weekend bars for most of the expats during the winter and, as Kate was due back from England tomorrow, it was not surprising to see Mark on his last night of playing out. I limited myself to just the 2 red wines as I’d definitely had my fill with the 2 bottles of wine we’d shared at Dalyance. Nanny Kay was sensible and had just the one red wine in Sofra and a taxi home. I was home before midnight, Mark dropped me off in his taxi, and unfortunately Gill’s flight had been redirected to Heraklion in Greece due to the bad weather. I played catch Slothy with Charlie and told him he’d be going to stay with Gill at some point this weekend. I’m not sure why but he started licking my feet and we were still up at 1.30am.
It was a lovely sunny day on Wednesday 25th January, I was concerned it would be a bad result today at Fat Club so I saved having lunch until after weigh-in. I did, however, have sausage cassoulet with potatoes for breakfast, saving some of the cassoulet in the fridge. I also made Charlie have 2 walks with me which he didn’t argue about. At Fat Club, I was extremely surprised to find I’d only put on 0.1kg this week which was a miracle and we were all sat around discussing our week in the Nil Lounge bar area. Not everyone had arrived yet when, those of us who were there, felt the wooden floor start to move. The hanging cat basket behind me started to swing and Nil, the owner, recognised immediately that it was an earthquake. She evacuated the room, which is meant to be what you do, although I never had before, and we were all a bit surprised that it went on for over a minute. Luckily, it was over relatively quickly and wasn’t a big one in Dalyan. I believe it’s epicenter was 79km South West of Rhodes but had measured 5.9 so we had all felt it. It was definitely the first one I’d felt where it went on longer than a few seconds and we had to be evacuated as a precaution. When I got back to Helen and Abi’s, the internet was off, Helen had warned me that it was due to expire around now and I’d have to manage for a few days without it. Coincidentally, my 4G on my phone had ran out today too so I needed to get more tomorrow. It also meant that I wouldn’t be watching any more TV while I was there. I finally had my lunch at 4.30pm and had a lovely treat; the leftover meatballs from Egehan on my birthday, which I’d taken from the freezer and had with steamed rice. It was just as nice on the second time of eating it. I spent time with Charlie on the sofa then got peckish about 8.30pm so I had leftover cassoulet and oven chips (from Helen’s freezer stash), as they needed eating up!
It was day 5 of Tet in Vietnam, on Thursday 26th January, Captain Caveman was due back at work tomorrow night and he’d had a nice time off. The weather was starting to turn a bit, here in Dalyan, and it looked like storms were coming. After walking Charlie, I had cheese on toast for breakfast so that I could use up some of Helen’s frozen sliced bread – I really enjoyed it too. In the afternoon the weather brightened up a lot and I even had to cloth off down to my vest top. Charlie and I sunbathed on the roof terrace but we both knew the rain was coming. At 3pm I decided to take some stuff back over to Captain Caveman’s apartment, given that I was due to be moving back there this weekend. I checked to make sure there was no damage from yesterday’s earthquake and all was fine. Some friends had got broken ornaments in the tremors so we were lucky. I also noticed that the people renting the apartment opposite us were still there and the communal stairs were pretty dirty. I thought I could smell cat pee too which wasn’t pleasant. I bought more dog food for Charlie, this time just 1kg for 30 lira (£1.32) but this was the adult food from the King brand which the shop person assured me was the same as what Charlie had originally. Unfortunately, I had noticed today that Charlie had been eating only the original biscuits and leaving all the new ones which were mixed in. I purchased more 4G credit for my Turkish phone so that I could at least be in contact with people while I was still at Charlie’s. I was surprised to see that 5GB had gone up from 88 to 115 lira (£5.07), an increase of 30% since last month. After taking 2 backpacks full of stuff, between the 2 houses I walked past Jiks on my way back to Helen and Abi’s. Gay Gaz, Roy and Brian were having a drink there so I joined them for just the one beer. Roy had negotiated 60 lira (£2.64) for beers at Jiks, so I gave him my money to pay for mine when I left, otherwise I would get charged 20 lira more! When I got back I knocked on Katrina’s door to see if she’d mind me logging on to her internet, she very kindly gave me her password. Unfortunately, I could only get my phone to connect to her WiFi if I was stood near the front door or on the stairs. It was useful but would not have been good enough if I’d been needing it for work or to watch TV. That evening, I had a real treat for dinner as I’d got my Bistro Blue leftover steak (from Christmas Day night) out of the freezer earlier. After a fairly long walk with Charlie, it was nice to make some beef steak fajita wraps, which I had with the pepper sauce. An amazing Thursday night dinner! I checked on Charlie’s food bowl again and this time he’d decided to take out all the biscuits he didn’t like from the mixed bowl – how clever. He liked the new stuff so that was ok. That evening we had lots of Charlie cuddles as a storm had started, I didn’t get to sleep until 5am!
I got up early on Thursday 19th January intending to go back to bed but Charlie had cheekily taken my spot in the bed. I let all 3 dogs know that we had to get up anyway as Jamie was on his way home from Mauritius and would be arriving in to Dalaman airport at 9.30am. Norman and Edna were excited but Charlie not so much as I started packing and stripping the bed. By 9.30am Norman was pacing about the lounge and kitchen wondering where Daddy was but Edna was waiting on the sofa knowing there would be luggage to collect. By 10am Norman had drafted Charlie in to keep a look out for Jamie and they were on high alert for the sound of the taxi and gate.
Jamie arrived at 10.30am and after a doggy reunion we decided to go to Ela’s Kitchen for a breakfast. We both had the big one, me without tomatoes and eggs, Jamie without mushrooms, and it was delightful. Jamie surprised me by buying my breakfast as a belated birthday treat which was very good of him. Our next mission was for me to move back to Helen and Abi’s as I had quite a lot of stuff, including all the freezer stuff, to shift. Jamie drove me round and helped me carry everything too – it would have took me about 10 journeys on foot, easily.
As Charlie and I moved back in to the top floor apartment, Helen messaged me with sad news and I decided to give her home a bit of a spruce up. I took the Christmas tree and decorations down, hoovered up and checked with Katrina if it was ok to use the shower, now that the plumber had fixed everything. Jamie had already said I could use his shower if I needed to, which was very kind, but I could go to Captain Caveman’s place quite easily. Katrina confirmed it was ok to use as the leak had been fixed and she wanted me to try it to check all was well anyway. After putting all my stuff away I went to see what Charlie was up to and I found him on Abi’s bed. We went out on to the front roof terrace and I noticed that the hot water tank was spewing out boiling hot water so I let Katrina and Mehmet know. Charlie seemed to be pleased to be home but was a bit out of sync. I think he was either expecting Helen and Abi to be back or for me to be leaving him, because of all the bags. He even laid on what was Captain Caveman’s pillows as if he was hoping to find him back in the apartment. We had quite a long dog walk around the area that Charlie knows well and then went back ‘home’ for a quiet night in.
As we were almost out of dog food I went back to the pet shop and bought just 2kg of dog food for 50 lira (£2.21). Jamie had said if it was different to what Charlie was having, to mix it in with the old so that it didn’t upset his stomach, so I would do that. I went to Migros Supermarket too and bought skimmed milk and 2 lots of quark which came to 47.50 lira (£2.10). As I was coming out of the shop deciding what I would make for dinner, I got called over to Jiks!
Armed with the dog food and Migros shopping at 5pm, I went over to Jiks where Matt, Vanessa, Janet, Kev, Mark and Kate were having a beverage and they invited me to join them. I had a couple of white wine & sodas and, for some reason, all the ladies were trying on each others hats. We had a good laugh with Vanessa who had told us that Madge had been accusing her of talking too much. Nanny Kay and Becky arrived just as everyone was getting ready to leave and we briefly discussed my belated birthday get together next week. Matt & Vanessa had booked a table at Balıkçım for Thursday night fish and chips. I wasn’t going to go on account of me (supposedly) being back on my diet! I was (so easily) persuaded and, while Matt, Vanessa, Janet & Kev set off across town to the restaurant, Mark and Kate waited to give me a lift on their mobility scooter. This was handy as I could put my shopping on the back and we were there in just a couple of minutes.
At Balıkçım I ordered a glass of white wine to go with my fish and chips and it’s definitely the nicest white wine I’ve drank while out in town. Kate was very good and ordered meze dishes as a main meal while the rest of us ordered the infamous fish and chips. When it came I was very impressed as it was huge, the batter was crispy, the chips were excellent and the fish tasted amazing. Everyone else had either mushy peas or curry sauce (or both) on their’s but I just had the Turkish vinegar. A few splashes of non-brewed condiment would have made it perfect but we were in Dalyan so I couldn’t expect them to have that. Unsurprisingly, I ate every bit of mine and I even ate the generous serving of fresh rocket on the side. I was glad I’d gone along and was very pleased to have had such a big meal for less than an English £10. While we were there Matt and Vanessa spoke to Alp, the owner, about his forthcoming birthday weekend. He was going to be celebrating his 50th birthday at a 5 star all inclusive hotel in Antalya and Matt was organising a bus for anyone in Dalyan who wanted to go. After our fish supper someone, I’m not sure who, had an idea to go for one more drink! Janet and Kev headed off home, Matt and Vanessa said we’d meet at Bistro Blue, Kate and I walked there while Mark followed on the mobility scooter, with the shopping.
Inside Bistro Blue was nice and cosy at the bar area and it was only 8pm as we ordered drinks. I switched to red wine as I do like a red in Bistro Blue, Mark went from beer to red, Kate opted for vodka and diet coke while Matt had beer and Vanessa had a white wine and soda. The service was good but the music wasn’t as good without Selahı doing his DJing. We had a good laugh and when Matt and Vanessa paid their bill and left, I thought we would also be leaving. Mark and Kate had already said they would give me a lift back to Helen & Abi’s on the Puff Truck, it was on their way home almost and I was conscious that Charlie was on his own for the first time in just over 2 weeks. By 8.45pm Kate was doing some sort of drunken gymnastics on the stairs with the bannister and I was concerned an accident was waiting to happen. By 10pm Mark was also doing banister balancing which in turn lead to Kate having another go. Fortuitously no injuries were sustained and by 10.30pm I’d ordered the bill. I’d had 3 wines, Mark had 5 (we should have bought a bottle) but Kate had excelled herself with 6 vodka and diet cokes plus an extra diet coke. When the bill came it was a reasonable 80 lira (£3.54) per wine and 100 lira (£4.43) for a generous vodka and small bottle of diet coke. Mark and Kate saw that there was an extra 25 lira (£1.11) on the bill under ‘soda’ and argued they had not had a soda. This was actually for the extra bottle of diet coke Kate had asked for when she thought the vodka was a bit strong. I think Omer, the bar man, was happy to take it off the bill just to get rid of us, as Kate tried to pay on card. I paid mine in cash but Kate was too tipsy to be able to get the card and machine to do it’s thing. Luckily, I had cash on me so I paid the bill and took a photo to remind Kate in the morning. I got a lift home, almost forgot the shopping on the back, and said goodnight – it had been a really good impromptu night! When I got in, Charlie wanted to know what time I called this, getting in at 10.45pm on a school night smelling of booze!?
On Monday 16th January Captain Caveman was due out of the cave and was taking himself off on a pre Tet holiday. Here in Dalyan, the weather was sunny and around 22°C but rain was due again tomorrow. I did quite a lot of editing in the morning after walking the dogs and then found Charlie had tried to go back to bed for a siesta. Kate and I had decided to make the most of the nice weather and had arranged to meet for lunch at 12.30pm at Egehan again. Gino at Egehan gave us a lovely warm welcome and he even gave Kate’s bike a thorough wash as it was very muddy. Kate had beer, I had a glass of red wine which was rather smooth and we both ordered pasta dishes this time. The food was lovely, as we sat in the suntrap outside by the pool. Kate had made a lemon drizzle cake for me for my birthday and she’d brought it along. We worked out how to cut it up in to pieces which would be around 10 syns each and I would pop some in the freezer too.
I seemed to be attracting abandoned dogs as, at Tez bar, one which looked a bit like a ginger Charlie came over. When the weather got cold, and Mark had come to join us, I popped back to Captain Caveman’s apartment to put most of my lemon drizzle cake in the freezer, put a coat on and grab a pair of leggings for Kate to borrow. I left just after 6pm so I could feed the dogs and walk them again. On my way back to Jamie’s I called in to Migros Supermarket where I bought filo pastry sheets, frozen sweetcorn and toilet rolls for a total of 136.60 lira (£6). For dinner I put a pie in the oven and started looking at flights to Vietnam. While the pooches all slept on the sofa I found Emirates to be the cheapest on the search I did. When my pie was ready Charlie showed that he desperately wanted some by sitting underneath the oven, then climbed on the sofa to try to get a piece. I didn’t give him any as I didn’t think it would be good for him and the other dogs would want some too if I did.
I went back to bed with a cup of tea and 3 dogs on Tuesday 17th January. Norman and Charlie were getting friendlier and it was a good job, as rain looked imminent. Captain Caveman was on holiday in Hue for a few days but would be going to Hoi An soon to meet friends. I had pie for lunch but in the afternoon I couldn’t make it in time for Singing group as I had to walk the dogs and get to Tez for a birthday celebration. It was Jackie’s birthday and I’d mistakenly thought her birthday was tomorrow. I hurried to walk the dogs and call at the bank but got there for 4pm, just before it started to rain. Quite a few of us were at Tez bar, including Vanessa, Matt, Mark, Kate, Cath & Keith and a few of the other regular ‘Tez-pats’. We had to move inside when it started lashing it down so it was quite cosy, but Vanessa’s coat got soaked.
Jackie, Chris, Amanda, Jeff, Gay Gaz and I all went on to Kordon for a meal while the rest stayed in Tez and then went home. I had lentil soup to start which I really enjoyed and the Gorgonzola chicken for main. Jackie had recommended the dish, it was fantastic and enough to take half home. I had a glass of wine too and my bill came to 450 lira (£20) which was good value but more than I’d normally spend on a Tuesday evening dinner and drinks. We were still eating our meals when Cath joined us and had a bit of Chris’s mixed casserole. After a rather lovely birthday meal I said goodnight to the others and we left Cath with Gay Gaz heading to Jiks for shots, as I went back to Jamie’s to check on the 3 dogs.
Wednesday 18th January was rainy so, after letting the dogs out in to the garden, feeding them and making a cup of tea, we all went back to bed for an hour. I had just strawberries for breakfast and stayed in my PJs while the rain was so heavy. All 3 dogs were waiting for it to stop raining so that we could go for a nice walk and they looked a bit fed up. In the morning I finished all my editing for this particular stretch and I was looking forward to getting more done during Tet. I had more pie for lunch and there was no Fat Club due to the bad weather. I was keen to know my weight this week, though, so I got on Jamie’s scales. Obviously the scales are different to Carol’s at Fat Club but it showed 0.1kg less than last week. Pleased with this I walked the dogs then had some lemon drizzle cake for a snack. The dogs were getting along much better now and were definitely friends, which was nice. I did a Slimming World friendly pizza for dinner but then later had some cheese and membrillo. I watched some TV and it was nice to see Norman and Charlie had become closer now too.
Although it was still raining when I got up on Thursday 12th January, it had eased a little. I tried to catch up with as many birthday messages as possible and I’d got a lovely message from my sister, Gayle, who had also sent me some money for my birthday. I thought I’d maybe put it together with the money from my parents and buy, either something nice to wear, or maybe a ring, when I next went shopping. I took the dogs out before Louisa got up and we’d all towelled off and were on the sofa when she came downstairs. Annie at Bistro Blue confirmed we could go ahead with yesterday’s birthday plans tonight instead. This was brilliant news, I let everyone know and asked if anyone wanted to change their preordered meals. Louisa and I did because she’d eaten her choice yesterday in Kordon and I decided to push the boat out and have something I really wanted. Louisa and I left the dogs at home to meet Mark and Kate at Ela’s Kitchen for breakfast at 11am. Our Fethiye friends had left early that morning so I sadly didn’t get to see them but they had given Kate a bottle of wine to give to me for my birthday – how lovely. For breakfast I had the big breakfast but agreed to do swaps of my eggs and tomatoes for Mark’s mushrooms on his small breakfast. Kate ordered a Chicken club sandwich and Louisa a bacon sandwich. I absolutely love the breakfasts in Ela’s and they have proper English tea too.
After breakfast, I confirmed menu choices and numbers for Bistro Blue but I’d had 20 cancellations already. Mark and Kate decided they wouldn’t come as we’d gone out yesterday for dinner and breakfast today instead. Vanessa and Matt also cancelled because they too had eaten out with me yesterday. In the afternoon, Louisa and Kate came with me to Charlie’s apartment where they helped me clean the remains of any flood water up. It wasn’t as bad as I’d thought and it was just in the main bedroom. We also emptied the freezer and fridge to take the stuff to Jamie’s so that if the electric had to be turned off, nothing would spoil. We saw Milo and he now had a crate with a blanket in from Katrina so that he was warm until his new owner could collect him. That evening, as we were getting ready to head off for my party, I got messages from Vanessa, Matt and Mark to tell me they were in Tez bar and that I should come to join them (and a few people coming to my celebrations) there. Of course, I couldn’t do that as it would mean being late for Bistro Blue and being rude to the people who were actually on their way to my belated celebrations.
Louisa and I arrived at the restaurant just before 7pm and the table was set up lovely, we had 12 people eating plus another half a dozen coming just for drinks. Joining in the meal was Wolfie & Irena, Jackie & Chris, Linda, Ghislaine, Pete, Bill & Jaxx and Gay Gaz. Joining for drinks only were Janet & Kev, Roy, Sheila, Andy & Kaye, and Cath & Keith. Janet brought me a bottle of wine for my birthday, Linda got me a lovely necklace and Ghislaine gave me a reed diffuser from LC Waikiki and some Ferrero Rocher chocolates. I’d said I didn’t want birthday gifts, just shots and snogs so I’d done very well and I also got quite a few cards which was very lovely. Louisa and I had a porn star martini cocktail each, I also shared a bottle of wine with Linda during the dinner. Both Louisa and I had ordered the same thing which was the surf and turf. At 500 lira (£22.18) it wasn’t cheap so when it arrived Louisa saw that it had a sauce on and wasn’t happy with it. I asked Omer to send it back as she thought it might have cheese in, it didn’t but she still didn’t want the meat and prawns covered in sauce. Mine came and I tried it and liked it, I’d asked for mine medium which was fine. Louisa got her food back and the prawns were separated but still in the sauce so I suggested she rescue them on to a bit of dry bread and I had her sauce. Her medium steak wasn’t cooked enough so I asked Annie if we could send it back again and, of course, they obliged. I really enjoyed my food and even finished off some of Louisa’s which was still too raw for her but she didn’t want to send it back a third time! I definitely would eat the surf and turf again but I think Louisa would choose differently next time.
Instead of a dessert, we had more drinks, Bill bought me a Moscow Mule, loads more red wine was had, then I decided that I would buy a round of tequilas for the few of us who were left. Things got messy as others joined in the buying of shots when Cath introduced everyone to a Baby Guinness (or 4). We turned the floor in front of the meze fridge in to our dancefloor and Selahı made an excellent DJ. I’m not sure I remember getting back to Jamie’s but I do recall having more drink when we got there. Louisa was leaving tomorrow so she had vodka and coke to drink up!
I was up and about early on Tuesday 10th January as Louisa was on her way from Manchester to Dalaman airport. I was really pleased that she was coming out to help me celebrate my 50th birthday. The dogs weren’t happy that I wasn’t back in bed with a cuppa so they had to do their snoozing on the sofa. I popped all the ingredients for a chicken and pumpkin curry in to the slow cooker and let Louisa know that’s what we were eating later. I crammed in as much editing as I could before lunch as I would be taking the next couple of days off for my birthday. Jamie had been gone a week now and he and his partner were enjoying Mauritius. Everyday they showed off their hotel towel art but it wasn’t that good, I decided to make some out of their tea towel and sent them photos of it. I spent my lunch break walking Charlie, Norman and Edna and even got a photo of them walking together. Back home, I cleaned and tidied in readiness for Louisa arriving. The sky was growing dark and storms were predicted, my birthday tomorrow was booked for quite a lot of us so I hoped it wouldn’t get cancelled.
Louisa arrived and she had brought me a block of Red Leicester cheese, which I’d asked her to and I was so happy. She’d been a bit worried about being able to get dairy through as it’s on the list of produce not to be able to bring in, even though everyone does. It’s my favourite cheese and you can’t get it often here, what they do have is super expensive too. I’d not seen Louisa for 9 months, the last time was when she’d been over with her nephew and mom in April last year. It was great to see her and she had a funky new haircut which looked great. Louisa didn’t fancy the curry I’d made for dinner so I turned it off and we could perhaps have it tomorrow for lunch. The rain was still holding off so we decided to go out to the bank. As we were walking it was obvious that it was definitely going to rain tonight and the forecast said it would be heavy for a few days. We ended up in Jiks where a glass of red wine was now only 60 lira (£2.64) but a shandy was 80 lira (£3.51). Of course we had to bump in to Madge, who came over to ask about my ‘pregnancy’ again. I really should have been eating that Slimming World friendly curry at home instead of joining Louisa for a pizza. I ordered the Slim pizza (which was incorrectly named but I took off ham and added mushrooms) while Louisa ordered the Happy pizza. They were only 90 lira (£3.95) each and it tasted so good that I ate the whole thing. My diet was, once again, postponed – until after my birthday. The rain started and we walked back to Jamie’s where I opened a bottle of red wine and Louisa had a vodka and coke. She’d not even managed to drink much of it before falling asleep on the sofa around 9.30pm – it had been a long day of travelling for her. As the rain got heavier and heavier I had a feeling my birthday tomorrow would not go as planned.
Before I’d walked Charlie on Tuesday 3rd January, I’d already had some photos from Captain Caveman in Phong Nha. He had been out and about meeting friends at familiar haunts and because of the 4 hour time difference had already had lunch. Ganesh, the Indian restaurant, was now open and he was looking forward to trying it in the next few days. I walked Charlie and completed some editing, which Charlie wasn’t impressed about. For lunch I tried to salvage the ruined mushroom risotto by making risotto balls and they weren’t too bad. I also started looking at flights to the UK, hoping to pop back for a week or so. The prices to get to the UK were very cheap but to return to Turkey were not. The temperature felt cold here at 19°C at 5.30pm so I knew I’d struggle with the cold weather in England. My parents and Captain Caveman had left Dalyan a week ago now but it did seem like a lot longer. While Captain Caveman had been to Bamboo cafe and then was out with Tatas, I moved in to Jamie’s for another pet sitting stint. At 6.30pm I arrived, with Charlie, at Jamie’s villa and we had a glass of wine before he jetted off on his holidays. Dale, who handles residency applications, amongst other things, popped round and he joined us with a tonic water. I would be staying for 16 days to look after Jamie’s dogs, Norman and Edna, but Charlie seemed a little apprehensive of his new sofa buddies. When it came to bedtime he came with me, Norman and Edna slept on the sofa downstairs.
I couldn’t reach the toaster at Jamie’s and I was struggling to open some of the new handle-less kitchen cupboards. On Wednesday 4th January I had to have cereals for breakfast because of this and they’d gone a bit soggy by the time I’d found and got in to the cutlery drawer for a spoon. It was sunny out, although I noticed Jamie had not expected nice weather in Dalyan as all the garden furniture had now been put away. There was washing hung out next door so I wondered if we were expecting neighbours but I think it was just the cleaner popping round to do a spruce up. Charlie was still unsure why he was staying at Jamie’s with Norman and Edna, so he had assumed the guard dog position. He barked at the Cleaner as we had a chat and she said she knew me from Facebook. I managed to get some editing completed on my laptop but working at the breakfast bar on a high stool made my legs a bit numb. At lunch time I popped back to Charlie’s home to pick up more of his stuff, including his blanket, and he snuck in a cheeky sunbathe on the roof terrace. While I was there, I saw Jamie’s plumber who was on the roof, and it confused both of us at the same time. I was still walking the 3 dogs in 2 separate walks as I couldn’t manage all of them at once, yet. Fat Club was exciting as Ghislaine had gifts from Atyom, the Russian, for the 5 of us from her birthday bash. We each had a lovely bracelet in a box and gift bag to say thanks – how nice was that!? It was no surprise that the results of my weigh-in weren’t good and I had put on 0.8kg this week. I’d only left the dogs for 1 hour to pop to Fat Club, when I got back they had all been well behaved but acted like I’d been gone for a week. I didn’t eat lunch until 5pm but I had a jacket potato with cheese (no butter) then I fed the dogs. I made sure to feed them in separate sections of the kitchen as Charlie was used to having his food bowl full at all times so he could eat when he wanted. The King Charles Cavaliers will snaffle anything so I couldn’t leave Charlie’s food out and he took his time eating while the other 2 waited for any spare, which never happened. I spoke to my parents on video call and they were doing well, getting used to the cold back home in Sheffield. Later in the evening I had some pasta then settled down for dog snuggles. Captain Caveman was settling in to Phong Nha well, he’d been to meet friends in Dong Hoi, had drank wine with Tatas and finished his evening with a Porter party, where all his work friends and colleagues were.
Having been up most of the night with scared Charlie, the dog, because of the New Year’s Eve fireworks I was tired but hangover free on Saturday 1st January. I made a Slimming World friendly pizza with leftover salami and cheddar for lunch and decided to try the Slow Cooker mushroom risotto for dinner. I had a nice leisurely dog walk and then arranged to meet Jamie and Ann at Waterfall for a couple of drinks. The dogs love it there and they get to see Skippy, the dog, too. Unfortunately we were there a tad longer than planned and my risotto was overcooked. I popped it in a tupperware thinking I’d salvage it another day but I ate a small soggy portion of it for dinner. I filled up with left over Christmas cake and some cheese, which meant the diet was out of the window, once again! Captain Caveman had left Saigon and was heading back to Phong Nha, moving back in to the Glass House and getting prepared to start work again.
On Monday 2nd January it was the end of my Christmas holidays and so I intended to get back on with working for a living. Things were tight money-wise as the inflation in Turkey continued to rise and prices of shopping was increasing by up to 35%. Ann posted a job advert on Facebook so I decided to apply and then I made a shopping list. At the top was a diary, I really needed one to get organised as January, for me, is a busy month. I had strawberries for breakfast, the ones I had bought a week ago at Köyceğiz market and had cut them and put them in a glass jar to keep them fresher for longer. I was on my laptop editing documents but Charlie didn’t want me to, because he needed more belly rubs. I had pasta bolognese for lunch then soup and a wrap for a snack later. After a nice afternoon dog walk Charlie was insistent we went to Waterfall bar again, he was starting to find it impossible to go past without calling in to say ‘Hi’ to the locals. I met up with Mark and Kate who were on their way home from town and we had a jacket potato, courtesy of Mehmet. I left after 3 wines but, at 11pm, I’d had another glass of wine at home and more pasta bolognese before snuggles with Charlie.
joloyolo 